N.Y. man who fired shotgun in front of synagogue in 2023 gets 10 yrs
Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A New York man has been sentenced to a decade behind bars for firing a shotgun outside of an Albany synagogue and yelling "free Palestine" before the start of Hanukkah in 2023.
Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, of Schenectady, N.Y., was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on Tuesday, months after he pleaded guilty to civil rights and firearms charges in February.
"The Department of Justice stands firmly against anti-Semitism and all hate crimes," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
The incident occurred Dec. 7, 2023, outside Albany's Temple Israel, mere hours before the start of Hanukkah later that evening.
Prosecutors said Alkhader took an Uber from his home to the synagogue, where at about 2 p.m. EDT he walked to the entrance of Temple Israel, pulled out the Kel-Tec KS7 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and fired two shots while yelling "free Palestine." On attempting to fire a third round, the shotgun jammed on Alkhader, who then attempted to rip an Israeli flag from a flagpole in front of the synagogue.
Alkhader was then arrested by Albany police near a nearby hospital. The incident prompted the synagogue to cancel a concert and celebratory candle-lighting ceremony that night for Hanukkah, according to the Justice Department, which said the shooting made congregants afraid to return to their place of worship.
"Mr. Alkhader's violent actions were fueled by hatred for individuals simply because of their faith," Special Agent in Charge Craig Tremaroli of the FBI Albany Field Office said. "That hatred caused tremendous terror within the Temple Israel community -- and the Jewish community as a whole -- as they were preparing for the first night of Hanukkah."
Andrew Miller, the man who sold Alkhader the weapon on Nov. 5, received 14 months' imprisonment in October followed by three years supervised release.
The shooting happened amid a spike in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim incidents in the United States during the first few months of Israel's war in Gaza.
According to FBI statistics for 2023, there were 1,832 anti-Jewish bias crimes in the United States as well as 236 involving anti-Muslim sentiment.
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