‘Neo-Nazi’ who dressed up as Orthodox Jew to sneak into Jewish community centre denied bail

An American “neo-Nazi” who dressed up as an Orthodox Jew in an attempt to sneak into a Jewish community centre has been denied bail as he awaits trial.

Travis Garland, who reportedly has ties to the far-right Goyim Defense League (GDL), dubbed the stunt an “internet prank” but admitted “harassing” local Jews in chats on the social media app Telegram.

Garland, 31, of Maryville, TN, was caught by CCTV entering the Gordon Jewish Community Centre in Nashville earlier this month.

He was dressed in a costume resembling a stereotypical member of the Charedi community, complete with mock tallit, a clearly fake beard and false peyot.

The receptionist who spoke to him claimed that he demanded to speak to a rabbi and tried to force his way into the centre, prompting them to call for assitance.

A security guard escorted him off the premisces, at which point he allegedly said that he had been participating in an “internet prank”.

However, investigations by the Stop Antisemitism NGO and News Channel 5 suggest that his motivation may have been more sinister.

Their reports suggest that Garland had strong links to the GDL and openly joked about “harassing” Jews at the centre on Telegram.

A member of a GDL-affiliated Telegram chat, who police have reportedly identified as Garland, posted: “I wore the rabbi costume and went into their jew building harassing them … and the dude freaked out”.

He was also accused of using racial slurs referring to black and Asian people and of having a username that seemingly referenced the crematoriums at Nazi death camps.

Garland was indicted this week on charges of civil rights intimidation and civil rights violation.

The judge presiding over Garland’s case elected to send separate charges of criminal trespassing and assault to a grand jury, he denied the $250,000 bond previously set by the county magistrate.

Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk had argued for bail to be denied, saying: “He attempted to enter the Gordon Jewish Community Center. He ignored the directions from the front desk folks, tried to get into a secure area, had to be physically stopped.

"For all those reasons, we are concerned for public safety. We are also concerned whether or not the person would ever come back to court.”