Snoqualmie man charged in wave of racist, anti-Semitic graffiti

A man who has been in and out of a state mental hospital after allegedly biting a police officer has been charged in connection with a string of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on Snoqualmie-area buildings last summer.

The charges — nine counts of malicious harassment — were filed last week, about six months after Adam Moore, 24, of Snoqualmie, was booked into the King County Jail for allegedly attacking a police officer.

When Moore was arrested he was the lead suspect in the hate graffiti spray-painted and scrawled with pen on the exterior of several churches and other buildings, according to Snoqualmie police.

Since Moore's arrest July 11, all of the hate graffiti — which included swastikas and the terms "white power" and "kill religion" — have stopped appearing, police said.

According to police and county prosecutors, Moore has been charged in connection with graffiti found:

• June 9 at the Nazarene Church, 3900 block of Southeast Park Street, and Mount Si High School, 8651 Meadowbrook Way S.E.

• June 21 at Scriptures Christian Store, 8100 block of Railroad Avenue Southeast.

• June 28 at St. Claire Episcopal Church, 8600 block of Railroad Avenue Southeast; United Methodist Church, 3800 block of River Street; and Our Lady of Sorrows, 3900 block of Southeast Alpha Street.

• June 29 at the Scriptures Christian Store. Graffiti was also found outside the Snoqualmie Tribal offices, next door to the bookstore.

• June 30 at Snoqualmie Market, 8000 block of Railroad Avenue. Police confiscated surveillance video from the market.

Moore also is being investigated for a group of unsolved arsons in Snoqualmie around the same time, according to court charging papers.

On July 3, police stopped a man who resembled the person on the market video, court charges said. The man told officers his name and that he was living nearby.

Moore's parents said their son had a history of mental-health problems and spraying graffiti, court charging papers said. Police said the graffiti throughout Snoqualmie was similar to drawings Moore had done in his bedroom, court papers said.

On his MySpace page, Moore refers to himself as a "satanic Aryan," according to court documents.

When Moore was confronted by Snoqualmie police inside a tavern July 11, he told one he didn't need to talk to him because "he read his rights on the Internet," a police report said. Moore punched the officer in the face, kicked him and bit him in the arm.

He was arrested and later charged with third-degree assault. He has remained in jail since last summer.

In December, Moore was taken to Western State Hospital for a mental-competency evaluation in the alleged assault of the officer. He was returned to the jail, but on Jan. 6 he returned to the hospital. It is unclear why he was sent back to the hospital.

Moore will be arraigned on the malicious-harassment charges Monday and will appear in court two days later for a hearing with regards to the mental-health review, according to the King County Prosecutor's Office.

Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff for County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, said there is no reason why prosecutors wouldn't push ahead with the malicious-harassment case even with Moore's mental capacity in question.

"He's a risk to public safety," Goodhew said. "When he's acting irrationally he's a risk to citizens and the county."

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com