NY man pleads guilty to firing shots outside Jewish synagogue in Albany
An upstate New York man pleaded guilty Tuesday to firing two shotgun blasts outside a Jewish synagogue in Albany on the first night of Hanukkah in 2023.
Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, had been arrested at the scene outside Temple Israel on Dec. 7, 2023, after the gunfire sent the synagogue into lockdown.
Alkhader shouted 'Free Palestine!' outside the house of worship and later told federal investigators that 'events in the Middle East have impacted him.' He opened fire exactly two months after Hamas attacked Israel, sparking the brutal and ongoing war in Gaza.
'The defendant's violent, antisemitic and terrifying act targeted the Temple Israel congregation, the larger Jewish community, and the right of every person to practice their religion without fear of violence,' U.S. Attorney Carla Freedman said in a statement.
Alkhader pleaded guilty to obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by threat of force, brandishing a firearm during a crime and conspiring to purchase a firearm unlawfully. He faces a minimum of seven years in prison at his sentencing hearing in June.
More than 60 children were inside Temple Israel at a daycare when Alkhader opened fire, according to investigators. No one was wounded by the blasts, and Alkhader's gun jammed before he could fire a third shot.
The firearm conspiracy charge was added because Alkhader acquired the weapon from another man, Andrew Miller, who illegally bought it for him in November 2023. Miller copped to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 14 months behind bars.
With News Wire Services
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Jewish student settles religious discrimination suit against Columbia
FIRST ON FOX: A Jewish student who alleged she was forced out of her graduate program in part because of her Shabbos observance has settled her religious discrimination lawsuit against Columbia University. The terms of the settlement in the lawsuit filed by The Lawfare Project and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP were confidential, but Lawfare Project executive Ziporah Reich said it included financial compensation and other relief. "These outcomes reflect the power of legal action to bring about meaningful change, we are proud to stand behind a courageous student who chose to stand up for her rights," Lawfare Project Director Brooke Goldstein told Fox News Digital in a statement. A Columbia spokesperson confirmed the settlement, saying, "We have reached a mutually agreeable confidential settlement with Forrest that did not include any admission of liability." Trump Admin Alleges Columbia Violated Civil Rights Law With 'Deliberate Indifference' To Campus Protests Mackenzie Forrest, an Orthodox Jewish student from Florida, claimed she was forced out of the Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) program at the Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW), after she requested that she be allowed to attend classes remotely out of concern for her safety amid widespread antisemitic campus unrest following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. Read On The Fox News App Forrest alleged that she attended the Columbia School of Social Work specifically because of her interest in the DBT program. However, when she informed the program's director, Andre Ivanoff, Ph.D., that she would not be able to engage in classroom activities that fall on the Jewish Sabbath shortly after she was accepted in Spring 2023, Ivanoff allegedly replied that that would be a "problem," court documents say. Columbia University Punishes Students Who Took Over Building During Anti-israel Protests The Jewish graduate student received further pushback regarding her religious practices when she informed Ivanoff that she would be unable to attend a weekend-long workshop on suicide risk assessment because it fell on Shabbos, also known as the Sabbath. Despite Forrest saying that she could attend the parts of the workshop that did not occur between Friday night to Saturday night, Ivanoff allegedly told her she would need a "dispensation" from her rabbi to attend the workshop. Eventually, Ivanoff decided he would assign her substitute coursework in lieu of the workshop when Forrest informed him he could not attend. Following the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023, Columbia's campus exploded into a hotbed of antisemitism. In light of what the plaintiff claimed was widespread verbal abuse and a physical assault of a pro-Israel student who was allegedly beaten with what appeared to be a broom, Forrest requested that she be allowed to attend class remotely out of fear for her safety. Not only was the grad student's request denied, but soon after she claimed she faced retaliation from the university. Despite being a straight-A student, Forrest was told she was at risk of failing the field-based internship portion of her curriculum, according to the claim. The Jewish student alleged that she had never previously been told she was under-performing by her academic advisor, whom she met with article source: Jewish student settles religious discrimination suit against Columbia
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Iran, an evil and desperate regime, is now more dangerous than ever
When I was woken up this morning at 3am by sirens that sounded across Israel I knew exactly what was happening. The signs had been piling up for the last few days: International Atomic Energy Agency declaring Iran in breach of its obligations, US pulling non-essential staff out of embassies, hospitals in Israel made ready, a warning issued to Hezbollah in Lebanon against attacking; the list goes on. But the signs of the inevitable had also been there for many years before. Iran has been a rogue state since the ayatollahs seized power in 1979. The Islamic Revolution that year was built on 'death to Israel' and 'death to America'. The US was the 'Great Satan', Israel and Britain the 'Little Satans'. These were not mere words. Iran was behind the suicide bombings that killed 241 US and 58 French military personnel plus six civilians in Beirut in 1983, as well as 63 deaths at the US Embassy there six months before. Iran's dirty work was also responsible for the killing of 85 people at a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1994, as well as 29 in an attack on the Israeli embassy in the same city in 1992. Iran and its proxies killed at least 1,100 British, American and allied troops in Iraq between 2003 and 2007 as well as an unknown number of coalition troops during the Afghanistan campaign. They have targeted US bases, international shipping and oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. And they have been attacking and killing Israeli soldiers and civilians for decades. That eventually culminated in the October 7 pogrom in Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and many were taken hostage. There is much more to add to Iran's catalogue of terror: a bomb factory in London, for instance, that was disrupted by British security services in 2015 and alleged attempted terrorist attacks in the UK leading to arrests last month. Iran has also been the major supplier of drones and missiles to Russia which have been used against civilian and military targets in Ukraine. For decades the Tehran regime has been working to develop nuclear weapons. Although Iran sometimes paused its programme when it feared punitive action from either the US or Israel, it has refused to stop; its upward trajectory has now reached a point where the IAEA believes it now has enough highly enriched uranium to make at least ten bombs. Iran's ballistic missile capability has also been proceeding apace, giving it a nuclear capability to span the region, and of course there are also other more covert means of delivering nuclear weapons. Until recently the missing part of the intelligence jigsaw was weaponisation, the ability to turn fissile material into a viable bomb. Today Israeli prime minister Netanyahu revealed that Iran has indeed been working on that important final step. With all diplomatic pathways to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear armed state closed off, Israel had no choice but to attack. The alternative would have been unthinkable: a regime that has repeatedly proven its capacity for unlimited violence acquiring nuclear weapons capability. But Iran's dictators are now in a desperate situation. How they will react is difficult to foresee. Israel has decapitated their armed forces and destroyed significant parts of their offensive capability. The IDF will continue to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and to degrade its capacity to strike, although we don't yet know whether it will be completely neutralised. If not, like Hitler in his bunker, the unhinged ayatollahs might try to lash out at oil states in the region – either with their own remaining armoury and or using what terrorist proxies remain to them. They might even attack US bases in the Middle East, which they have threatened to do, even though they know that could bring about their Armageddon. All of that might lead to insurrection in the country. Much of the population in recent years has reached new heights of hatred for rulers that have oppressed, imprisoned, tortured, murdered and impoverished them. But it is far from clear that there is a viable opposition able to step up; one scenario is perhaps some kind of military coup. It is possible that ayatollah Khamenei might heed president Trump's advice today and come to the negotiating table. That would probably be the worst option, because whatever Khamenei agrees to would not be honoured, leaving the Islamic State in a position to lick its wounds and then return to its nuclear programme. It is therefore vital now that Israel be given the freedom and support to finish the job it started last night. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
NYPD ramps up security at NYC Jewish sites after Israel launches offensive against Iran
The NYPD has dispatched officers to patrol yeshivas, synagogues, and other Jewish sites throughout the five boroughs following Israel's bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities in the Middle East, the department said Friday. 'The NYPD is tracking the situation in the Middle East,' the NYPD said on X. 'Out of an abundance of caution, we're deploying additional resources to Jewish, Israeli & other sites throughout NYC. We're coordinating with our federal partners & we'll continue to monitor for any potential impact to NYC.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced late Thursday that he has ordered his military to launch an attack on Iran's nuclear and missile sites to head off an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, though it remains unclear how close the country is to achieving that or whether Iran had actually been planning a strike. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. 'It could be a year. It could be within a few months,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed as he vowed to pursue the attack for as long as necessary to 'remove this threat.' The Israeli attack killed Iran's top military officers and ramped up the potential for an all-out war in the Middle East. Iran quickly retaliated to the Israeli offensive, sending a swarm of drones at Israel as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of 'severe punishment.' President Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with Washington on its nuclear program, warning on his Truth Social platform that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse.' The NYPD had already ordered additional patrols at Jewish sites throughout the city following violent antisemitic attacks at a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. that left two Jewish embassy workers dead and a flamethrower attack on Jewish marchers in Boulder, Colo. The department's decision to focus primarily on Jewish locales in the city as the conflict in the Middle East escalates drew criticism on social media. 'What about Iranian and Muslim communities? Are they not deserving of the NYPD's protection?' poster @girlbosswoman wrote on X. The writer for @LordStirling_ agreed. 'Who is NYPD to take sides in a foreign conflict?' the X post asked. 'And to protect the aggressors who attacked unprovoked? The NYPD has seen an uptick in antisemitic crimes in the city since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023. Mayor Adams last month said that displays of antisemitism in New York City since then have been 'constant.' While the NYPD saw a 54% drop in anti-Jewish hate crimes in May compared to the same month last year, from 52 to 24, the number of antisemitic incidents amounted to nearly 60% of all hate crimes investigated that month, officials said.
