Suspect arrested on hate crime charges in Florida after allegedly targeting Jewish community members

Miami-Dade police have apprehended Mohamed Al Saccal following accusations of targeting Jewish individuals in Sunny Isles Beach. Al Saccal faces hate crimes charges for alleged harassment or intimidation based on religious or ethnic heritage, as well as attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to Local10. 

According to the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, Al Saccal has been terrorizing members of the Jewish community for several days. The disturbing incident that led to his arrest involved him confronting a Jewish couple on their way to synagogue while reading the Torah.

Sergeant Brian Schnell of the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department described the encounter, stating that Al Saccal accosted the couple, chased them, and shouted anti-Semitic sentiments such as “all Jews are the devil” and “all Jews must die.”

Authorities believe that Al Saccal may have been involved in multiple similar instances. Schnell explained, “Over the past three days now, we’ve received calls about members of our Jewish community being harassed, tormented."

“We are not by any means, going to tolerate any type of crime geared towards hate or a specific group regardless of what’s going on in the world, regardless of what side this person is on,” Schnell said.

During his arrest at the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department headquarters, Al Saccal claimed, “I didn’t say anything to Jews; I am 10% Jew.” However, police are actively pursuing the possibility of elevating these crimes to hate crime status.

Since the start of the latest conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, there has been a dramatic uptick in Anti-Semitic incidents across the US. According to the Anti-Defamation League, over 2,000 antisemitic incidents occurred across the country between October 7 and December 7. This tally is an alarming 337% increase in reports compared to the previous year. It is also the highest two-month period in antisemitic incidents since the ADL began tracking in 1979.