A man was found guilty of arson Tuesday for setting fire to the mezuzah of Berkeley Hillel near the University of California, Berkeley, last February.

David William Denton, 45, used a pocket torch to set the mezuzah alight. A mezuzah contains a scroll with passages from the Torah and is affixed to the doorpost. Students were inside the Hillel for a Shabbat gathering at the time.

Denton is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 3 and faces up to three years in prison.

“Targeting and burning a sacred religious symbol is an act that can cause harm far beyond the physical damage itself,” Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson stated. “People of every faith should be able to practice their religion and gather in their communities without fear of intimidation.”

StopAntisemitism called for a harsher sentence, warning that Denton’s past behavior presented a pattern that could turn deadly.

“How many chances should a violent racist get?” the group posted on X. “David William Denton, 44, was charged with hate crimes after torching a mezuzah on fire at a Berkeley Hillel while students were INSIDE celebrating Shabbat. In 2021, he was arrested for vandalizing the same Hillel, a Chabad rabbi’s home, AND a synagogue. Are prosecutors waiting for him to actually KILL someone before they lock him up for good?”