SU students charged in hate-crime burglary after pork at Jewish frat

Two Syracuse University students were arrested and charged with burglary as a hate crime after one of them allegedly threw a bag of pork into a Jewish fraternity house during a Rosh Hashanah dinner Tuesday evening, authorities said. The incident occurred at about 6 p.m. at the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house, where members had gathered to mark the Jewish New Year.

Police say 18 year old Samuel Patten of Brooklyn entered the fraternity residence and hurled a clear plastic bag of pork against an interior wall, splattering the contents across the wall and floor. Patten then fled the house and got into a Jeep Wrangler driven by 18 year old Kyle Anderson of Greenwich, Connecticut, according to university police. Both men were taken into custody later that night by the university Department of Public Safety and handed over to Syracuse police. They have been charged with burglary as a hate crime and criminal nuisance and remain held at the Onondaga County Justice Center. A judge set bail at $1,500 each when they appeared in Syracuse City Court.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said prosecutors treated the case as a hate crime because it occurred on a Jewish holiday...