Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, of Schenectady, N.Y., pleaded guilty in federal court in Albany on Tuesday to threatening a synagogue in the state capital in December 2023.
Alkhader, who will serve at least seven years in prison and who faces up to 15 years in prison and up to $500,000 in fines, admitted to shooting a shotgun in the air outside Temple Israel Synagogue on Dec. 7, 2023, and shouting “free Palestine.”
“Still holding the shotgun, he then attempted to remove an Israeli flag from a flagpole outside of the synagogue before walking away,” per the U.S. Justice Department. “He was apprehended shortly after by Albany Police Department officers.”
Alkhader’s actions required the daycare in the synagogue to lock down and he also “significantly disrupted activities that the Temple Israel community had planned to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Chanukah and made congregants afraid to return to their place of worship,” the department said.
“The defendant’s violent, antisemitic and terrifying act targeted the Temple Israel congregation, the larger Jewish community, and the right of every person to practice their religion without fear of violence,” stated Carla Freedman, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York.
“I commend law enforcement for acting swiftly to arrest Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, to investigate his motives and his illegal acquisition of the shotgun and to bring about today’s guilty plea to a crime carrying a minimum term of seven years in prison,” Freedman stated.
Alkhader pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by threat of force, a count of brandishing a firearm during the commission of the offense and a count of conspiring to purchase a firearm unlawfully, per the Justice Department.
He has been in federal custody since he was arrested on Dec. 7, 2023.
Brendan Cox, chief of the Albany Police Department, stated that the department “wants to reassure the community that these incidents are taken very seriously, and we are dedicated to maintaining peace and safety for everyone in our community.”
“Alkhader directly targeted the Jewish community, and I am pleased with our department’s quick action in apprehending the defendant, as well as the collective partnerships with the FBI Albany Office and the ATF who helped bring justice to this case,” he added.
