Gainesville man charged with City Hall vandalism incidents, threat against Mayor Harvey Ward

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – James Alexander Dewar, 42, has been arrested and charged with vandalism and making a threat against a public servant after he was identified as the suspect in several incidents at City Hall in March. Mayor Harvey Ward released a statement on March 27 after a rock was thrown through the window of his office, along with a “lengthy and hate-driven” note, but few details were released at the time.

According to Dewar’s arrest report, the front glass doors of the Old Library building were found smashed on the morning of March 4. A piece of slate tile was found inside the building, and a folded note in the lobby area said, “Keep giving all our jobs to the blacks and hispanics. Retribution is coming. Trump 2024. DEI.” A circular “stop” symbol was drawn around “DEI.”

Video surveillance reportedly showed a suspect putting on a hat and sunglasses and pulling up a hood on his red sweatshirt; the suspect wore “distinct” white shoes, navy blue pants, and a red hoodie. He appeared to be middle-aged and tall with a thin build. The suspect walked up to the doors, threw a tile through the doors, and left the note inside the lobby before running away.

On March 18 at 2:30 p.m., cleaning staff found a broken window on the south side of the second floor of City Hall; the damage happened between March 13 and March 18, and it appeared that a chunk of brick was thrown through the window. No note was found, and no video surveillance shows that area of the building.

On the morning of March 27, City staff found that the window of Mayor Harvey Ward’s office had been broken by multiple large rocks overnight. A folded note was found that said, “Mr. Ward, You insult our intelligence, and we have had enough. You continue to talk up DEI, all the while we’ve had 2 white young people killed by blacks in the last month. We want the DEI program fully shut down. You won’t listen to our words, so we now speak in the language of our January 6th brothers and sisters. RIP [first victim’s name]. RIP [ second victim’s name]. DEI (encircled by “stop” symbol). And no I am not racist. I’m simply tired of us whites having to take it on the chin. Those days are over and anyways people like me do not care about being called racist! (you called me that a meeting.) Don’t make me turn this place into the Alfred P Murrah building” (all errors are from the transcription of the note in the arrest report, and the victims’ names are redacted to protect their families because they had no involvement in these incidents).

Video surveillance reportedly showed the suspect arriving in a light green Kia Soul and wearing a red hoodie, a hat, and khaki pants. The suspect can be seen running toward the area of the window and then back to the car.

The car was registered to Dewar and a family member, and its movements were traced at multiple points along the path between their home and City Hall during the time frame of the incidents. Dewar is a registered Republican in Alachua County who registered to vote on August 1, 2023, but has not voted in any elections yet. He has had multiple incidents or contacts with law enforcement since the early 2000s and reportedly has a history of drug use and alcohol-related incidents.

In an interview, the family member reportedly said Dewar has had problems with alcohol use, Adderall use, and gambling for over 20 years and has been in a number of rehabilitation programs. Dewar was in Gainesville for a few weeks in March and left town shortly after the City Hall incidents. The family member said Dewer has talked about his issues with “diversity and racial hate” and has complained that he couldn’t get a job, but “they would be throwing jobs at him” if he were black. Dewar has been diagnosed as bipolar, and he has talked about the two victims he named in the note and wondered why the relative was not upset about those incidents. The relative said Dewar has made violent threats in the past but has not followed through and that he has never had a weapon. Dewar reportedly said at one point, “I don’t have guns… I don’t have bombs… but I have rocks.”

In a phone conversation with a Gainesville Police Department officer, Dewar reportedly stated repeatedly that he has an issue with Adderall and alcohol and that he sometimes drives downtown, parks, and walks around “taking in the environment.” He reportedly described the route he would take from his home to downtown, and that matched the locations where the vehicle was observed. He said he did not loan his vehicle to anyone else in March.

When asked about the incidents at City Hall, Dewar reportedly denied any involvement and refused to answer any more questions.

The officer who filed the sworn complaint reported that on the day Dewar was reported to have left Gainesville, video surveillance from the airport showed him wearing a red hoodie, “distinct” white sneakers, and navy blue pants.

Dewar has been charged with a total of $18,812 in property damage in the three incidents and for making a threat to Mayor Ward with the purpose of influencing him to shut down the Department of Equity and Inclusion.

Dewar’s full criminal history is unavailable because First Appearance documents are not posted on the weekend, but he had one local felony conviction and five misdemeanor convictions as of 2013. Judge Sean Brewer set bail at $70,000, the amount set in the arrest warrant signed by Judge David Kreider.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.