Screenshot via Miami Beach Police Department video
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Miami Beach Police have arrested two German tourists after one of them allegedly scrawled an antisemitic message on the city’s rainbow Pride-themed bench.
At around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, officers with the Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) were dispatched to 12th Street and Ocean Drive regarding antisemitic vandalism on one of the city’s new LGBTQ+ installations near Lummus Park, according to a police report. Photos obtained by New Times show what officers saw upon arrival: the words “ADOLF WAS HERE” and a swastika symbol scribbled in marker on the yellow portion of the rainbow bench.
According to the report, surveillance footage reviewed by police showed 58-year-old Christoph Rehak writing on the bench while 63-year-old Gunther Manfred Jekschtat blocked him with his body. Police later tracked the two men down to the Colony Hotel on Ocean Drive and took them to the Miami Beach Police headquarters.
Miami Beach Police Department photo
In an interview with police, Rehak confessed to writing the graffiti on the bench, explaining that he wrote it “as a joke,” according to the report.
“Upon being interviewed, Mr. Rehak did not show intent of the remark as being a hate crime,” the arrest report reads. “Mr. Rehak was forthcoming and completed a written consent form allowing officers to view his phone. The photos of the graffiti were discovered.”
The men — both of whom reside in Germany, according to their arrest reports — are currently being held in a Miami-Dade jail on misdemeanor criminal mischief charges involving property damage worth more than $200 and less than $1,000.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office (SAO) is currently seeking hate crime enhancements for the charges.
“The 1st Degree Misdemeanor charge of Criminal Mischief more than $200 and less than $1000 is presently being reviewed to see if it can be enhanced to a 3rd Degree Felony under Florida’s Hate Crime Enhancement statute,” Ed Griffith, a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, wrote in an email to New Times.
In a statement shared on X (formerly known as Twitter), Miami Beach mayor Steven Meiner wrote that a “disturbing hate crime occurred in our city yesterday.”
“Miami Beach has zero tolerance for hate, bigotry, antisemitism, or acts intended to intimidate any group,” Meiner’s statement read. “We will continue to act swiftly to protect our residents, visitors, and the values of respect and inclusion that define our city.”
In early April — months after crews with the Florida Department of Transportation removed Miami Beach’s festive rainbow Pride crosswalk overnight following state orders to remove all street art “associated with social, political, or ideological messaging” — Miami Beach reassembled the more than 3,000 colorful pavers on city (not state) property near Lummus Park.
As noted in a Facebook post from the city, the reimagined crosswalk would be accompanied by a commemorative plaque and a new rainbow bench.
On Monday night, city crews reportedly removed the entire bench. Miami Beach Commissioner Joe Magazine told WSVN 7News that the bench has been temporarily replaced with police tape, but will be put back. It remains unclear when that will happen.
