Angel Viera Charged With Ethnic Intimidation After Alleged Trespass At Mount Airy Synagogue

WEST MOUNT AIRY — A 34-year-old Philadelphia man has been charged with ethnic intimidation after police say he tried to get into the Germantown Jewish Centre, a synagogue that also houses a preschool, refused to leave the property and made antisemitic statements Thursday morning, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Angel Viera, of Philadelphia, was also charged with defiant trespass and disorderly conduct, court records show, the Inquirer reported. His bail was set Friday at $25,000 unsecured.

Police said officers responded to the Germantown Jewish Centre in West Mount Airy around 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, for a report of a disturbance involving a man who was refusing to leave the property.

The man, later identified as Viera, “had been pulling on doors and attempting to gain entry to the school and synagogue,” a police spokesperson said in an email Friday, according to the Inquirer.

“Security personnel instructed the male to leave the property, but he refused. While on the property, the male made several derogatory and antisemitic statements directed toward Jewish people,” the spokesperson said. Viera was then arrested, police said.

Nina Peskin, the Centre’s executive director, told the Inquirer that a security guard first noticed Viera standing across the street and appearing to take photos or video of the property with a phone. She said he then crossed the street and a lawn area and tried to open several doors.

The guard called police and told Viera he was on private property and should leave, Peskin said. She said Viera then sat on a curb of the property’s driveway and refused to leave until officers arrived, within three minutes of being called.

According to Peskin, Viera allegedly said “F— the Jews” and questioned the guard for working for a Jewish institution.

The Centre has been the target of two bomb threats and multiple hostile phone calls in the last few years, the Inquirer reported. Peskin said this incident was different because the man allegedly tried to get in while children were attending the synagogue’s preschool.

“This felt different,” Peskin said, adding that the incident has rattled “our whole community.” No one was injured, but Peskin said she fears it could have been much worse: “If he had entered the building, it would have been a different story.”

Philadelphia police have offered to provide an increased presence at the synagogue and preschool, Peskin said.

Viera is represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia. A spokesperson for the association declined to comment on the case Friday, the Inquirer reported.

The charges are allegations. Viera is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Sources: The Philadelphia Inquirer / Philadelphia Police Department; Germantown Jewish Centre.

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