WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (APP): The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a leading Muslim advocacy group, Monday called for federal hate crime charges following the arrest of a suspect who reportedly opened fire on a vehicle in Miami Beach after he reportedly saw what he thought were “two Palestinians.”
Mordechai Brafman, 27, was charged with two counts of attempted murder after reportedly making a U-turn to stop in front of the victim’s vehicle and shooting “17 times, unprovoked, striking both victims.” Police say that while he was in custody, Brafman said that “he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.”
Neither victim was killed. One was hit in the left shoulder, while the other was grazed by a bullet, according to police.
“We urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to bring hate crime charges in this case based on the alleged perpetrator’s statements to police that reportedly indicate an anti-Palestinian motive CAIR-Florida Communications Director Wilfredo Amr Ruiz.
“It is the alleged shooter’s reportedly bias-motivated actions, not the actual ethnicity of the victims, that should be the determining factor for charges in this disturbing case.”
He added that earlier this month, CAIR-Florida called for the censure of Palm Bay City Councilman Chandler Langevin for his inflammatory and xenophobic anti-Muslim remarks, in which he claimed that Muslims “do not belong” in the United States.
Last year, CAIR-Florida called for the Florida legislature to censure of state Rep. Randy Fine after he posted an anti-Muslim tweet celebrating the murder of Turkish-American human rights activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi and appeared to call for more killing.
Ruiz noted that from January to June 2024, CAIR documented 4,951 incoming bias complaints nationwide, a 69 percent increase over the same period in 2023.