A federal grand jury returned an indictment with seven charges, including hate crime charges, against six Pittsburgh-area men, who range in age from 19 to 28, for a 2024 attack on a Jewish man and for obstructing justice.
The charges, which include conspiracy to obstruct justice, come with a maximum sentence of 15 years and up to $500,000 in fines.
Muhammed Koc (27) and Omar Alshmari (28) attacked a man wearing a Star of David necklace, and Abraham Choudhry (22), Emirhan Arslan (24), Ali Alkhaleel (19) and Adeel Piracha (22) lied in their testimony before the grand jury, according to the indictment.
Just after 2 a.m., the victim walked past five of the men on Sept. 27, 2024, and Koc said “‘F*** Israel’ and ‘F*** the Jews,’ or words to that effect,” per the filing. (Piracha wasn’t part of the group at the time.) During an exchange with the victim, Koc and at least one other defendant “made additional antisemitic comments,” including comments about the victim’s necklace, the filing alleges.
The victim “stood his ground and asserted it was ‘dumb’ to insult someone for being Jewish, or words to that effect, but was not physically aggressive towards any of the defendants,” it states. Then Koc allegedly punched the victim in the face, and Alshmari “struck” the victim, causing “bodily injury, including physical pain, a split lip and headaches.”
“We will prosecute this alleged act of violent antisemitism to the fullest extent of the law,” stated Pamela Bondi, the U.S. attorney general. “This Department of Justice will always protect the First Amendment right to worship freely and without fear for Jewish Americans and all Americans of faith.”
The University of Pittsburgh issued a crime alert later that day, which the defendants allegedly discussed in a Snapchat message conversation, in which Alshmari identified himself and Koc as the individuals involved. “In subsequent conversations by text messaging, both Alshmari and Koc admitted to being involved in the attack on the victim,” the U.S. Justice Department said.
The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to obstruct justice, including “agreeing to falsely align their testimony about the attack” and providing “false and misleading information before the federal grand jury.” In one message to the group, according to the filing, Piracha said that “I’ve been subpoenaed to court. What has everyone said, so we all on the same page?”
“Several defendants testified falsely as to whether they or others struck the victim, whether the attack was related to the victim’s Jewish identity and Star of David necklace and whether they had discussed with any others what to say to the grand jury, among other false statements,” the Justice Department stated.
