“I Don’t Have Bombs, But I Have Rocks” Ward’s Window Breaker Unmasked

James Alexander Dewar, 42, was booked into jail on August 23 and charged with property damage and making threats against a public servant for the slew of rocks being thrown through city property windows in March.

The first incident occurred on March 2 at 11:02 p.m., with a thrown rock damaging the front glass doors of the Old Library Building. The scene was found a day or two later. The note said, “keep giving all our jobs to the blacks and hispanics. Retribution is coming. Trump 2024.” The sworn complaint references the note having the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initials as being encircled with a “don’t” symbol. The estimated damage to the doors was $2,500. 

The second incident occurred sometime between March 13 and March 17. During the afternoon of March 18, cleaning staff at City Hall noticed a broken window on the south-side second floor. There was no note this time. The damage was estimated at over $8,000. 

The third incident occurred on March 26 at 9:08 p.m. The following day, city staff discovered the window of the northern City Hall office held by Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward smashed with a rock containing a note. The window damage was estimated at $8,000 

After the third incident, Ward and Commissioner Bryan Eastman released statements condemning the incident.

The three incidents caused an estimated total of $18,812 in damage. 

The note thrown into Ward’s window reads as follows:

"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 Andy Gil. RIP Caleb M Frier. DEI (encircled by don't sign). 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.”

Dewar appeared to be threatening to recreate the Oklahoma City Bombing at Gainesville City Hall.  

Dewar referenced being called a “racist” by Ward at a city meeting, but it isn’t known if or when this occurred. 

The homicides Dewar was referencing were not racially motivated. The alleged reason for Caleb Fries’ killing was because the defendants didn’t want to pay for the cannabis he was selling them. Andy Gil was killed in a vehicular manslaughter/hit-and-run incident. 

Dewar is a registered Republican and has been having run-ins with law enforcement since the early 2000s. 

In 2004, Dewar was arrested for disorderly intoxication and was granted a withheld adjudication.

In 2006, Dewar was arrested for carrying an open container of alcohol and was granted a withheld adjudication.

In 2010, Dewar was arrested for larceny and burglary; however, the charges were respectively withheld and dropped.

In 2013, Dewar was found guilty of battery, property damage under $200, and resisting or obstructing an officer without violence.

In a 2015 incident with the University of Florida Police Department (UFPD), Dewar intoxicatingly spoke to an officer about “gang violence, current events in Chicago, and other events that were upsetting him.” Dewar was baker acted.  

Shortly after Dewar threw the rock into Ward’s window, he skipped town and went to Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Dewar’s father told police Dewar has problems with “Adderall, alcohol, [and] gambling,” going on to say Dewar called him a “liberal embarrassment” and wished death upon him. Dewar’s father would drop him off at a Motel 6 near Applebees when “things got out of hand.” 

Dewar’s father said Dewar made similar statements in the past in comparison to the statements in the notes. 

Dewar’s father recalled that on one occasion, Dewar said, “I don’t have guns… I don’t have bombs… but I have rocks.”  

The sworn complaint states Dewar has “no friends and seems to have alienated everyone around him.” 

Dewar told the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) he has an “issue with Adderall” and would sometimes walk around Downtown Gainesville to “[take] in the environment.” 

Dewar's arrest warrant was issued on May 1.

The court has ordered Dewar be elegible for a bond of $35,000.