Hate crime: Glendale man who threatened Phoenix synagogue indicted in new federal case

PHOENIX - A Glendale man previously convicted of targeting the Jewish community has been indicted by a federal grand jury for a hate crime after allegedly defacing a Phoenix synagogue last year, the FBI announced.

What we know:

Kevin Charles Pyles, 33, was indicted Tuesday on a federal charge of intentionally defacing religious property. The charge marks a significant escalation in the legal fallout for Pyles, who was originally arrested by local authorities in August 2025 following a string of online anti-Semitic threats.

According to the indictment returned in the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, Pyles defaced the Sha’arei Shalom Congregation on July 11, 2025, by posting an anti-Semitic flyer on the synagogue’s front door. If convicted, Pyles faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both.

Dig deeper:

The federal prosecution follows Pyles' recent guilty plea in Maricopa County Superior Court to charges of trying to make a terrorism threat. Those state-level charges arose from a separate investigation by the Phoenix Police Department, which tracked a series of anonymous, terroristic social media posts back to Pyles.

Court documents from his initial arrest revealed that Pyles admitted to investigators that he made the online threats, blaming the Jewish community for his unemployment.

"I am Hitler. Start (fire emoji) down synagogues and BlackRock financial buildings," he reportedly wrote in a post cited in court documents. "Just look them up and take them out if you’re near one. I’d do it. It’s worth the jail time for me."

Prosecutors during his initial court appearances noted that Pyles had also trespassed on the Sha’arei Shalom Congregation property in north Phoenix, where he filmed himself throwing a Passover glass and shouting explicit anti-Semitic slurs. He was initially held on a $250,000 bond and ordered to stay off the internet.

What they're saying:

Law enforcement leaders used the indictment to signal a zero-tolerance approach to hate crimes in Arizona.

"This indictment is a message to the community – we will not tolerate the defacement or destruction of any house of worship," U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day called these investigations a top priority because "every Arizonan has the right to feel safe." Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano agreed, saying that acts targeting specific communities "undermine the values we stand for."

PhoenixCrime and Public SafetyNews