Albuquerque man charged after synagogue, Jewish center attacks, hate threats

Federal prosecutors say Rex Crofton turned a quiet stretch of Louisiana Boulevard into a two-site attack, smashing the glass entry doors at Congregation Albert and then moving minutes later to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque. The case has now gone federal, with Crofton charged with damaging religious property as investigators sort through threats, weaponry and symbols they say point to antisemitic intent.

According to court documents, the first strike came at about 4:31 p.m. on June 2, 2026, when Crofton arrived in a silver sedan at Congregation Albert in northeast Albuquerque and used a tool to shatter the synagogue’s glass entry doors. After allegedly shouting an indecipherable statement, he fled, then went to the nearby Jewish Community Center and hit its front doors again with what appeared to be a crowbar or metal bar. Local reporting said the two attacks were separated by only minutes, and the JCC issued an emergency closure that disrupted camp pickup and forced staff to move quickly to protect children and families.

Investigators say the vandalism did not stand alone. Prosecutors allege Crofton made threatening and antisemitic statements, including a remark that he would kill all Jews, and later sent texts saying he had hit two synagogues within minutes. A search warrant at his home and vehicle reportedly turned up the suspected tool, clothing matching what he wore during the incident, a revolver, high-capacity magazines, other weapons and a torn Ukrainian flag marked with a swastika. Federal prosecutors will have to show that the damage to religious property was tied to bias against Jews, and the statements, timing and symbolism are the evidence they are using to make that case.

Crofton also faces state charges, including desecration of a church and two counts of criminal damage to property exceeding $1,000. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on June 4, 2026. The fallout lands against a broader spike in antisemitic incidents: the FBI reported 11,679 hate-crime incidents nationwide in 2024, while the Anti-Defamation League recorded 47 antisemitic incidents in New Mexico that year, the highest total it has tracked in the state since 1979. In the Mountain States region, the ADL counted 357 anti-Jewish assault, vandalism and harassment incidents in 2024, up from 242 in 2023.

What began with shattered glass at Congregation Albert now sits in federal court as a test of intent, with two Jewish institutions damaged back to back and prosecutors building a hate-crime case around every step that followed.