A Muslim civil liberties group is calling on the Tarrant County District Attorney鈥檚 Office to drop hate crime accusations against a group of people who allegedly graffitied 鈥淔*** Israel鈥� on the wall of a church in Euless.
Raunaq Alam, Julia Venzor and Afsheen Khan vandalized Uncommon Church in March 2024, according to their indictments. They're charged with criminal mischief damaging a place of worship, paired with hate crime enhancements that make the crimes more severe.
Alam鈥檚 trial is scheduled to begin Monday, online court records show. He vandalized the church 鈥減rimarily because of the defendant鈥檚 bias or prejudice against a group identified by national origin and/or ancestry and/or religion, namely, the state of Israel or Jewish faith,鈥� prosecutors argue in the indictment.
When asked why prosecutors sought the hate crime enhancements, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County District Attorney鈥檚 Office said in an email "Our indictment is based on the evidence."
The Texas branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations wants the DA's Office to .
"We actually detest vandalism, graffiti, especially on places of worship, et cetera,鈥� CAIR-Texas' Mustafaa Carroll told 四虎影院. 鈥淏ut we feel like to call criticism of a country a hate crime is a stretch.鈥�
四虎影院 also reached out to the local branch of , an organization that tracks antisemitic incidents. This story will be updated with any response.
of antisemitism, which connects antisemitism to arguments over the existence of Israel, has been criticized by others like
Tarrant County is politically retaliating against an activist in violation of the First Amendment, Alam鈥檚 attorney Adwoa Asante argued in a May 5 court filing.
鈥淚f citizens and persons within the United States are allowed to say and express 鈥楩*** America,鈥� why would the condemnation of a foreign country garner more enhanced prosecution from the State of Texas?鈥� she wrote.
Asante also noted Uncommon Church is not a synagogue 鈥� it is a Christian church that was flying an Israeli flag. 四虎影院 has reached out to Asante for comment.
A victim does not have to be a member of a protected group for it to count as a hate crime, 鈥� the crime just has to be motivated by bias or prejudice against a protected class.
The Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks against Israel and set off the war in Gaza that continues today. As of July, more than 60,000 Palestinians had been killed in the war, .
The war has generated fierce debates over whether criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic. In August, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton opened an antisemitism investigation into Plano ISD after school officials allegedly allowed 鈥減ro-Palestinian walkouts鈥攅ffectively making it a school sponsored anti-Israel activity,鈥� his office .
President Donald Trump including Columbia University student protestor Mahmoud Khalil, who spent 104 days in an immigration detention center following the federal government's crackdown, .
A GoFundMe apparently opened by Alam says he was arrested for his activism.
鈥淚 have so much love and compassion for people, and that鈥檚 the main reason why I鈥檓 so outspoken,鈥� Alam told . 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檓 an activist: because I care so much about people, and I care so much about injustice. So the people around me, they support me. And I guess they just want to see me get through this.鈥�
In August, the World Health Organization . And this week, a group of leading genocide scholars declared Israel is , a charge the Israeli government denied.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez atmsuarez@kera.org.
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