Michigan Man Sentenced To 1 Year In Prison For Spray-Painting Swastikas And ‘Die’ On Black Church

Source: METHEE PROMWONG / Getty

A white man in Michigan is set to spend a year of his life behind bars all because his seething racism led him to desecrate a predominately Black church for no other reason than the existence of the Black people who worship there.

Meet David Bluer of Warren, Mich.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, on Wednesday, Bluer, 34, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of damaging religious property. As we previously reported, in December of last year, Bluer admitted to spray-painting several swastikas, the word “die,” and other graffiti on the church in Roseville, which he said he did simply because the church serves a predominantly Black congregation and has a Black pastor.

“The defendant’s attack, motivated by race and color, instilled fear in not only the mostly Black congregants of the church but damaged the entire community’s sense of safety. Our office will always vigorously prosecute those who commit unlawful bias-motivated acts and seek justice for the victims,” acting U.S. Attorney Julie Beck said in a statement.

“The sentence of David Bluer sends a stern warning to anyone who seeks to invoke fear and hatred towards a specific group of individuals. The FBI is committed to upholding the U.S. Constitution, investigating civil rights violations and the protection of the American People,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “The hate-driven criminal acts committed by Mr. Bluer were halted through the relentless investigative efforts of members from the FBI Detroit’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Roseville P.D., Warren P.D., as well as the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, whose collaboration was crucial in securing this successful prosecution.”

OK, but when you really think about it, Bluer is a benevolent racist. I mean, he was KKKind enough to do preemptive community service by removing a white supremacist from the general public for an entire year, and all it cost him was a can or two of spray paint.

Seriously though, imagine costing yourself 52 weeks of freedom all for the temporary satisfaction of vandalizing a Black institution with paint that can easily be removed. There are white supremacists out there who have gotten comparable time for committing actual acts of terrorism (*cough, cough* Jan. 6 *cough*). Bluer is going to jail for the white supremacist equivalent of a child breaking out a box of crayons to write “you big dumb dumb” on their parents’ living room wall.

And, look, maybe Beck is somewhat right and David Bluer did “instill fear” in some Black members of the church’s congregation, but, honestly, you’ll find that most Black people are well aware that racists are going to be racist, and to truly “instill fear” in us, they’re going to have to do a lot more than take a can of spray paint and give us a visual representation of their white and eternally fragile temper tantrums.

For the next year, Bluer will be waking up in a prison cell every morning, eating jail food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then going to bed whenever a correctional officer tells him “lights out.” Was hateful graffiti that was likely forgotten the second it was removed really worth all that?

SEE ALSO:

Michigan Man Who Spray-Painted ‘Die’ And Swastikas On A Black Church Pleads Guilty

Black Voters Matter Launches ‘Take The Field’ Student Initiative

, Michigan man David Bluer was sentenced to 12 months in prison for spray-painting swastikas and the word “die” on a Black church., , Read More, App Feed, Civil Rights & Social Justice, Newsletter, News Archives – Black America Web, [#item_full_content].