Overview
- Surveillance video shows a man knocking over and damaging a large menorah outside the Miami-Dade Tax Collector’s downtown office days after the site’s first Hanukkah lighting.
- Police arrested a suspect in the case and VINnews identified him as Nicholas Eichorst, 46, with the tax collector’s office stating he was taken into custody and formally charged.
- Extended footage released by the office shows a bystander returning to stand the menorah upright and clear broken bulbs before leaving on a scooter.
- The display was repaired, re-erected and relit, and officials are seeking to identify the good Samaritan to thank him.
- Local and international leaders condemned the act, and prosecutors are weighing a hate-crime enhancement that could increase penalties beyond criminal mischief.