Michigan man pleads guilty to targeting, defacing Black church

Marnie Muñoz, The Detroit News on Dec 4, 2024

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DETROIT — A Warren man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to spray-painting racist graffiti on a predominantly Black church.

David Bluer, 34, entered the plea to one count of damaging religious property — a federal hate crime for which he could serve up to one year in prison and up to a year in supervised release.

Bluer admitted to spray painting swastikas, the word "die" and other graffiti on the Roseville church in October 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced in a press release.

He targeted the church because of its predominantly Black congregation and Black pastor, according to a plea agreement filed with the court on Tuesday.

Bluer's sentencing is scheduled for March 19.

His attorney, Brandy Robinson, was not immediately available Wednesday to respond to a request for comment.

"Racially motivated crimes have no place in our society," Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in the release. "Hate crimes are message crimes intended to sow fear and terror in communities. Through this prosecution, the Justice Department sends its own message — that we will protect communities from such hate-fueled violence and use every tool at our disposal to investigate and prosecute those who perpetrate these heinous attacks."

Bluer's guilty plea is the latest of several Michigan hate crime cases that progressed in November.

A Waterford Township man was recently charged for making Islamophobic comments toward a gas station clerk and pouring gasoline inside the business with a lit cigarette.

A Florida man pleaded guilty to making death threats to an American Muslim organization in Michigan.

A Macomb County man also was charged with multiple counts of felonious assault and hate crimes after allegedly hurling homophobic slurs at volunteers passing out literature for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.