Man who drew swastikas at City Plaza sentenced
CHICO » A Chico man will go to prison for six years for several convictions of vandalism and hate crimes which took place in Chico.
Thomas Bona, 35, pleaded no contest on Oct. 21 in Butte County Superior Court, to charges of felony vandalism with a hate crime allegation and four additional misdemeanor counts of vandalism with two counts of violating civil rights.
On Wednesday, Bona was sentenced to the upper term of six years in state prison.
According to a release from Butte County District Attorney, Bona’ convictions stem from a string of incidents involving hate crimes and vandalism incidents.
On April 9, 2019, Bona was spotted on surveillance footage at a minority-owned Chico gas station using a black marker to mark walls and a door with white power statements. That day Bona also broke a window of a local minority-owned food truck when his payment card was refused. Bona was found carrying a black marker when arrested.
On May 6, Bona was seen marking a wall of a Chico building on Orange Street with what were deemed ”symbols of unknown meaning.”
Then on June 12, Bona approached a man in a vehicle, yelled racial slurs and kicked the vehicle’s driver’s side, leaving a dent. Then Bona used a knife to carve a white supremacy symbol into the hood of the vehicle.
On April 8, 2020, upon request of his defense attorney and over the objection of the prosecutor, a local judge released Bona from custody. Then on June 2 Bona was recorded marking multiple white supremacy symbols or swastikas at the Chico City Plaza, while numerous people had gathered in response to the death of George Floyd.
Bona was arrested several days later and returned to custody.
Bona’s mental health has been an issue, as he was twice declared incompetent to stand trial and proceedings were suspended. At Wednesday’s sentencing, Judge Kimberly Merrifield acknowledged Bona’s mental health issues, but also noted Bona posed a significant risk to public safety if not imprisoned.
Merrifield also noted Bona will have access to mental health services while serving his prison term, and would be subject to earlier release if he actively engages with treatment.