Man accused of placing swastika stickers on Anchorage buildings sentenced to 18 months

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A man who was accused of placing stickers depicting hate symbols and carving swastikas into the doors of a Jewish museum in 2021 was sentenced Tuesday to serve 18 months in prison.

The United States Attorney’s Office District of Alaska wrote in a release that 28-year-old Luke Foster placed stickers with the Nazi swastika on them and the words “We are everywhere” on eight separate spots around Anchorage in May 2021, including the Alaska Jewish Museum, the University of Alaska Anchorage campus, and a site “associated with the LGBTQ+ community.” Mad Myrna’s, a downtown business associated with the LGBTQ+ community, was reported as one of the locations.

More stickers were discovered at the museum in September of that year, in addition to a swastika carved into the door, according to the law office.

In addition to the hate symbols, the office said Foster was also found to be in violation of drug and firearm offenses. After federal agents used a warrant to search his home in November 2021, psilocybin mushrooms, associated drug production items, multiple firearms and firearm ammunition, several thousand dollars in cash, and “Nazi-inspired imagery, including a box of swastika stickers,” were found.

“Mr. Foster’s hateful acts of pro-Nazi vandalism across our city have caused significant harm to multiple communities and his trafficking of drugs put the people of Alaska in danger,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska S. Lane Tucker said. “Anti-Semitic crimes and those targeting the LGBTQ+ community have no place here. Our U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, investigate and prosecute crimes that target our communities to instill fear and distrust.”

Investigators found that Foster was also using social media to traffic psilocybin mushrooms, a “Schedule I” controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act. Foster sold some of his mushrooms to an undercover agent, boasting about his gun stash at the same time.

The case was investigated together by the Anchorage FBI Field Office, the Anchorage Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Assistant U.S. Attorney James Klugman prosecuted the case.

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