Man arrested over hateful graffiti in Coral Gables, police say

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Officers arrested Benjamin Michael Garcia on Tuesday after accusing him of spreading hateful graffiti in Coral Gables.

Officer Kelly Denham, a spokeswoman for the Coral Gables Police Department, said officers noticed the vandal was spray painting anti-Semitic messages.

When you have this type of hate, it bothers the officers — even to make them work harder,” Denham said.

According to the officers’ incident reports, the vandal started to spread his hateful messages in March.

Denham said the officers did not want that in the community.

“Can you imagine people of the Jewish faith driving by that?”

Denham said two officers were able to recognize Garcia with the help of surveillance video from an area business.


About the Authors

Roy Ramos joined the Local 10 News team in 2018. Roy is a South Florida native who grew up in Florida City. He attended Christopher Columbus High School, Homestead Senior High School and graduated from St. Thomas University.

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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