Woman Sentenced to Three Years for Anti-Semitic Graffiti in Rogers Park
A woman accused of plastering anti-semitic graffiti at several locations in Rogers Park was given a three-year sentence on Thursday.
Mariana Lynch, 31, pleaded guilty to five counts of hate crime in exchange for the sentence from Judge Aleksandra Gillespie. The judge also ordered Lynch to perform 200 hours of community service.
Lynch was arrested in late December 2023 after witnesses identified her as the person who defaced several Rogers Park businesses with a marker. A Chicago police report said she used a permanent marker to put Nazi swastikas and the phrases “never again” and “bit188” on a business storefront in the 7000 block of North Sheridan and a garden apartment in the 7600 block of North Greenview.
Officers who arrested Lynch said they recognized her from an internal CPD bulletin about similar defacements at a Jewish school in the neighborhood on December 27, 2023. In that case, Lynch allegedly drew similar markings along with a website address, “die KKK raka, and “schlom!!! [sic]”
Lynch told the cops she was being “personally persecuted by the ‘Jews’ and ‘has to get attention,’” the report said.
She earned 558 days of credit toward her sentence while in jail awaiting trial. Combined with the state’s automatic 50% sentence reduction for good behavior, she will not have to serve any time in prison.
Tim Hecke is CWBChicago’s managing partner. He started his career at KMOX, the legendary news radio station in St. Louis. From there, he moved on to work at stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Tim went on to build syndicated radio news and content services that served every one of America’s 100 largest radio markets. He became CWBChicago’s managing partner in 2019.
His email address is tim@cwbchicago.com
