The Burbank-Glendale Nazi symbol spray painting vandal, Klinton Allister Dion, was arrested in San Bernardino County on 12/14/23. Dion had been charged with two counts of vandalism of religious property. Burbank police reported that Dion allegedly sprayed antisemitic graffiti at Temple Emanu El in the 1300 block of North Glenoaks Boulevard, and in the subterranean garage of an apartment complex in the 400 block of East Cypress Avenue, and to a nearby Burbank utility box. Police said the graffiti consisted of swastikas, an iron cross and the “SS” Nazi symbol. Dion has a history of arrests, including a 2011 assault conviction.
Dion, who is currently being held on $65,000 bail, had been scheduled to appear in Burbank Criminal Court on 12/15/23, however his case was postponed with no further date now on the court’s calendar and with no record of a defense attorney representing him at this time. Burbank Police Lt. Derek Green, who is involved in the investigation of Dion’s case and was interviewed for this story, reported that Dion has been “a local area transient with a history of mental health issues”.
In an effort to understand how a possibly mentally ill homeless street person such as Dion would become involved in a spree of spray painting Nazi symbols on places of religious worship, Simon Wiesenthal’s lead researcher, Aaron Breitbart, was asked what might have motivated Dion.
Breitbart believes, based on his many years of research, that antisemitism is nothing new and exists today in the same percentage of the population as it has for hundreds of years the world over. Breitbart theorizes that the current surge in antisemitic assaults, violent and otherwise, is the result in the serious divides that have been increasing at an alarming rate in the world. He further postulates that people previously felt restrained from expressing antisemitic, as well as racist and ethnic hostilities, due to social constraints that have seriously broken down in recent years to where haters feel emboldened permission to express what they’ve long felt.
Most concerning to Breitbart is that potentially dangerous individuals such as Klinton Allister Dion can be influenced by the larger culture to act out in an effort “to be part of something greater than themselves and not just out there alone in the world.” Breitbart said that the Wiesenthal Center, as well as many Jewish gathering places, have begun hiring armed guards to protect themselves. He also reported that there is a Jewish Temple in Boston he’s aware of where the members attend religious services armed with guns. He claims that such a reaction by Jews alarms him but that he understands why they have chosen to do this.
