Los Angeles was left reeling after alleged antisemitic hate incidents in which two Jewish men were shot and wounded as they left synagogues in the city last week.
Law enforcement say that over the course of two days Jaime Tran, 28, shot two men who were wearing black coats and head coverings identifying their faith. Both men survived the shootings. Tran, who had a “history of antisemitic and threatening conduct”, allegedly targeted the victims in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood because they were Jewish. He has been charged with federal hate crimes.
“For the past two days, our community has experienced two horrific acts,” US attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference last week. “An individual motivated by antisemitism, hatred for people in the Jewish community, committed two tremendously horrible acts targeting individuals because of their Jewish faith.”
The incidents have stoked fear among LA’s Jewish community amid growing antisemitism in the city and across the US. Anti-Jewish hate crimes in Los Angeles rose 24% last year over 2021, according to statistics from the LAPD.
Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, condemned the violence and “hate, bigotry and discrimination” at a town hall meeting on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Our Jewish community was terrorized, and that terror was felt across Los Angeles,” the mayor said. “I have heard people say that they were afraid to walk in the neighborhood to worship this past Sabbath. I’ve also heard people, including one of the victims, say that nothing would keep them away from services. The fact is, no one should have to face that choice.”
The city was rattled by a series of antisemitic incidents last fall, days after rapper Kanye West’s bigoted comments against Jewish people, that included protesters on a freeway overpass who were photographed giving Nazi salutes with banners referencing antisemitic remarks made by the fashion designer and rapper. Los Angeles police were also at that time investigating the distribution of flyers spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories.
The suspect in last week’s shootings, Tran, has a “history of antisemitic and threatening conduct”, including emailing former classmates using insulting language about Jewish people in 2022. He threatened a Jewish former classmate, repeatedly sending them messages like “Someone is going to kill you, Jew” and “I want you dead, Jew”, according to the affidavit.
Tran told law enforcement that he selected the victims based on what they wore on their heads, and that he had looked online for a “kosher market” and decided to shoot someone nearby, according at an affidavit filed by the FBI. Tran also admitted to shooting someone the previous day, the affidavit said. He allegedly shot both victims at close range from his car.
“We were lucky that we’re not going to funerals. That’s just the reality,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper from the Simon Wiesenthal Center said during Friday’s news conference. “Tomorrow we go to our services with our children.”
Law enforcement arrested Tran about 100 miles (161km) east of Los Angeles in the Riverside county community of Cathedral City near Palm Springs. Police used video from a camera at an intersection to identify an older model gray Honda that appeared to be involved in the shooting to connect Tran, whose driver’s license photo was consistent with witnesses’ descriptions of the shooter, to the incident.
After his arrest, Tran told the FBI that he was homeless and had been living out of the car for at least a year. He said he obtained the firearms from someone he did not know in Arizona, according to the affidavit.
