Philly DA: Video shows a second suspect defacing Israeli flag

The District Attorney's Office on Friday released video of an unidentified suspect who can be seen defacing the Israeli flag on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway earlier this week.

Prosecutors also were preparing an affidavit to rearrest a 25-year-old man who was photographed under the flag, located near 16th Street, holding a water gun used to spray the flag with a red substance. Antoine Guyton was arrested at the scene and charged, but those charges were dropped as the investigation pointed to an additional suspect, said Ben Waxman, spokesman for District Attorney Larry Krasner.

In the video, the suspect is wearing an orange shirt, tan pants, and sunglasses with his face partly covered by a keffiyeh, a scarf sometimes worn by Palestinians and their supporters. The suspect, who appears to be a white male, uses the pump-action water gun to repeatedly spray the flag. A man in the background appears to be video recording the vandalism.

Anyone with information about the unidentified suspect is being asked to contact Central Detectives at 215-686-3093 or -3094.

"There is very much an active and ongoing investigation," Waxman said. "To protect the integrity of that investigation, we have no further comment at this time."

Police had no known address for Guyton. A police spokesman on Friday had no comment on the matter, referring the case to the DA's Office.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia thanked Krasner and his office "for their swift investigation into the desecration of the Israeli flag on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The Jewish Federation has communicated with the DA's Office and Central Detectives, and we are grateful that the investigation has led to a reissue of the affidavit for the arrest of Guyton and that the public is now involved in the search for the additional suspect in this crime."

"This year, thousands of people across the region have joined with the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia to commemorate Israel's 70th anniversary. We look forward to continuing to honor Israel and our local Jewish communities safely and respectfully," the federation said in a statement. "We urge the public to assist the District Attorney's Office in identifying the additional suspect, and we look forward to a fair and just conclusion to this troubling episode."

The incident followed protests Monday in Center City over the deaths of Palestinians in confrontations with Israeli forces, the same day a ceremony was held in Jerusalem on the controversial relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv.