Evanston Police officers arrested a 21-year-old man early Monday morning after linking him to six instances of anti-immigration graffiti on the city’s north side since mid-October.
Around 2 a.m., an EPD officer spotted Evanston resident Daniel Schwartz spray painting a wall near Lincoln Avenue and Green Bay Road – a previous site of similar vandalism by Schwartz, according to an EPD news release issued Monday afternoon.
When the officer tried to apprehend Schwartz, he ran away and temporarily escaped arrest. EPD officers then identified a nearby suspicious vehicle and monitored it until Schwartz returned to the car around 3:20 a.m.
Schwartz has been charged with six counts of criminal defacement of property for vandalism incidents dating back to Oct. 20. His court date is scheduled for Dec. 21 in Skokie.
EPD Cmdr. Jay Parrott said because involved officers are still compiling crime reports as of Monday afternoon, he cannot yet comment on how it was determined Schwartz was connected to the five previous incidents.
The anti-immigration graffiti had commanded greater attention in recent weeks, with the police department recruiting a crime analyst to examine cases en masse and alderman mentioning their growing concerns during city council discussion.
“From what I understand – from the information I’ve received – the subject was trying to make a political statement and was the sole person acting in these incidents,” Parrott said.
In a phone interview Monday afternoon, Schwartz confirmed he was the man arrested for the misdemeanor charges Monday and clarified the social messages conveyed in his graffiti.
“It’s not about hate,” he said. “It’s just about concerns for the country. There’s no hate.”
Schwartz added he was railing against an immigration policy “that’s bad for all Americans in the short and long term” in his spray-painted sentiments, which occasionally cited a 2008 U.S. Census estimate that white Americans will comprise less than half the U.S. population 2042.
But Schwartz downplayed targeting any specific ethnic group when contacted Monday.
“I didn’t write what I did because I was looking out for only the interests of all white Americans,” he said.
Evanston resident Anita Gewurz (Feinberg ’85) was less receptive to Schwartz’s defense of the graffiti’s underlying theme. She said “no justification is needed” for the controversial statements which surfaced in her neighborhood last month.
Gewurz lives less than a block east of Ridge Avenue. On Oct. 19, The Daily reported a spray-painted message “You can’t have a 1st world Nation with a 3rd world Population” surfaced on the Metra underpass at Ridge’s intersection with Lincoln Avenue. It remained unclear Monday whether that instance of graffiti was included in Schwartz’s charges.
“The messages were very offensive,” Gewurz said. “They implied people who are visitors here or immigrants – especially from a third-world country – are inferior and should not be admitted.”
At their Oct. 17 council meeting, Evanston aldermen agreed the incendiary vandalism was alarming, with Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) pointing to Schwartz’s vandalism as an example of a broader issue.
“The time has come where we take it more seriously,” she said. “It’s a constantly recurring vandalism, and it’s a constant in our budget.”
At the same meeting, Steve Griffin, the city’s community and economic development director, said more than 5,000 graffiti tags have been cited thus far this year.
Rainey and Griffin did not return requests for comments on Schwartz’s arrest Monday afternoon.
The EPD news release issued Monday confirmed tactical team officers had began “surveillance on Evanston train viaducts … after political messages began reappearing in spray paint over the last several weeks.”
Schwarz’s vandalism charges relate to six separate instances across the city: Oct. 20 at 1826 Central St., Oct. 23 at Lincoln Avenue and Green Bay Road, Oct. 23 at Livingston Street and Green Bay Road, Oct. 23 at 900 Colfax St., Oct. 28 at Lincoln and Ridge avenues and Nov. 7 at Lincoln Avenue and Green Bay Road.
