After pleading guilty to ethnic intimidation for plastering Hitler stickers on the Asbell Center for Jewish Life at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania shortly before Hanukkah in December 2021, a New York man has been fined $500, put on probation for one year, ordered to stay away from the center and the campus, and must attend cultural sensitivity training, Pennlive reported.
Frank Petronio, 63, of Spencerport, New York, is a father of a Dickinson student, according to the news outlet. The Carlisle Police Department said he was observed on a security video discovered in January 2022 affixing antisemitic stickers with “inflammatory and intimidating messages” on the center’s windows and doors.
He had originally also been charged with harassment and disorderly conduct. Those charged were dropped during sentencing on Tuesday.
“It was a ‘smiley-face’ Hitler I bought several years ago during the Trump excitement,” Petronio told the Cumberland County court. “I was just being a wise guy. And I apologize, and I realize it was incredibly stupid to do.”
According to the report, his estranged daughter identified him to police after seeing his image on the surveillance footage.
During the hearing, the defendant criticized the FBI for raiding his home and seizing electronic equipment while attempting to determine his motive for targeting the Jewish center.
But the judge told Petronio: “I’m still not sure you’re getting the point.. You put a whole community on high alert whether you thought it was a random, funny thing or whatever it was.”
He added, “If you’re sticking these on an ethnic or religious group’s center [law enforcement] are going to treat as an incident of domestic terrorism, because how do they know this wasn’t a red flag or more serious acts to come?”
Dickinson administrators released a statement after Petronio’s hearing.
“Any incident of racism and antisemitism is egregious, and we will aggressively pursue prosecution of any such incidents on campus. Hate has no place at Dickinson, nor in Carlisle and the wider community. We are committed to remaining vigilant and making sure each member of our community feels respected, valued and heard,” they said.