On Friday night around 9:30 p.m., a 32-year-old man identified by CBS Los Angeles as Mohamed Mohamed, allegedly tried to run over Orthodox Jews who were leaving a synagogue on the Sabbath.
One Orthodox Jew told CBS that he and his friend were the intended targets. NBC Los Angeles reported the men were leaving Bais Yehuda synagogue. The man said, “We both scrambled in different directions so he slammed on his brakes and missed us, thank God.” Another security video shows the driver then threw his car in reverse, allegedly aiming for the Jews again. The intended victim stated, “He clearly was going at us and it was even more clear on round two … Why he chose us? Probably because of the yarmulkes on our heads.” Mohamed reportedly hurled anti-Semitic verbiage at the intended victims.
The man asserted that the responding officers were doubtful of his claims that it was a hate crime, and his claim was only taken seriously when a sergeant got involved. He concluded, “We live with it everyday. We live in fear and we hope and we pray that the LAPD and FBI take this more seriously than the initial response was.”
A witness took a picture of a Koran on the driver’s dashboard.
“There definitely was a God watching us,” the victim concluded.
Mohamed was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
According to the FBI, the percentage of hate crimes directed against Jews dwarfed the percentage of hate crimes against any other religious group in 2017. Of the 1,749 victims of anti-religious hate crimes: 58.1% of hate crime victims were victims of anti-Jewish bias; 18.6% were victims of anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias; 4.3% were victims of anti-Catholic bias, 3.3% were victims of bias against groups of individuals of varying religions (anti-multiple religions, group); 2.3% were victims of anti-Protestant bias; 1.8% were victims of anti-Other Christian bias; 1.5% were victims of anti-Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Other) or anti-Sikh bias; 0.9% were victims of anti-Hindu bias or anti-Mormon bias; 0.7% were victims of anti-Jehovah’s Witness bias; 0.7% were victims of anti-Buddhist bias, and 0.5% were victims of anti-Atheist/Agnostic bias.
Los Angeles has seen hate crimes against Jews in vicious fashion before; in August 1999, a white supremacist from Washington state loaded his van with five rifles, two pistols, and 6,000 rounds of ammunition, deciding which Jewish institution to attack: the Skirball Cultural center, American Jewish University, or the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance. When he saw all the venues had security, he drove to the San Fernando Valley and the North Valley Jewish Community Center, where roughly 250 children were playing outside. He entered the lobby, carrying an Uzi-type gun, opened fire, and hit three boys, a receptionist and a camp counselor. One boy was five years old; the other two were six years old. A 16-year-old girl was also hit. The five-year-old was hit in the abdomen and the leg, lost 50% of his blood, and when examined in the hospital had no blood pressure and no pulse. All the victims survived the attack. The shooter later said he wanted the attack to be “a wakeup call to America to kill Jews.”
On July 4, 2002, an Egyptian national opened fire at the El Al ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport, murdering 25-year-old Israeli Customer Service Agent Victoria Hen, who was standing behind the counter, and whose boyfriend intended to propose the next day, and Yaakov Aminov, an Orthodox Jew from Los Angeles. According to the FBI, the shooter thought he could influence U.S. government policy in favor of the Palestinians.