SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Federal prosecutors have charged a former rideshare driver in reference to an anti-Semitic assault on a passenger at San Francisco Worldwide Airport in 2023 that occurred weeks after the Hamas-led incursion into Israel on 7 of October which sparked the continuing battle in Israel. the Gaza Strip.
The 39-year-old was arrested on Wednesday and was in court docket for his preliminary look. He’s charged with committing a federal hate crime and faces as much as 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fantastic.
The alleged assault occurred on October 26, 2023, when federal prosecutors mentioned the defendant approached the sufferer at a pickup location and requested in the event that they had been Jewish or Israeli, saying he didn’t not transported a Jewish or Israeli particular person. He then punched the sufferer within the face, prosecutors mentioned.
The prosecution didn’t point out whether or not the sufferer was truly Jewish or Israeli, solely that the accused perceived him to be.
The defendant's federal public defender didn’t instantly return a request for remark Wednesday.
Greater than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, the territory's Ministry of Well being says. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its rely, however says ladies and kids make up two-thirds of the useless. About 1,200 folks, most of them civilians, had been killed in southern Israel through the October 7 assault that began the battle. About 250 folks had been kidnapped, and Hamas is believed to nonetheless be holding about 100 hostages.
