The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania announced on Wednesday that it was charging 23-year-old Mohamad Hamad, of Coraopolis, and 24-year-old Talya Lubit, of Pittsburgh, with vandalizing religious property at Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
In July, the two, who were arrested on Oct. 30, allegedly damaged the Chabad center “because of the racial and ethnic characteristics of the Jewish individuals associated with Chabad, in violation of federal law,” per the Justice Department.
“Defacing religious property is not protected speech—it is a crime,” stated Eric Olshan, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania. “Members of our communities should be able to practice their faith without fear of being targeted for their religious affiliation, including, as alleged here, with a symbol associated with a terrorist organization.”
According to the unsealed affidavit, “Jews 4 Palestine” and an inverted triangle were spray painted in red on an outside wall of the Chabad.
“The inverted triangle, according to the affidavit, first appeared in videos posted online by Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization, of the current fighting in Gaza where it was used to mark an Israeli target about to be attacked by Hamas fighters,” per the Justice Department. It added that “another message” was spray-painted on a wall of the Jewish Federation shortly after the vandalism at Chabad.
The Justice Department stated that officers executed search warrants at the residences of the defendants in August and September, and investigators reviewed the phones of the defendants, particularly the messages sent in July, when “they planned their vandalism activities and specifically discussed selecting Jewish targets.”
“Review of Hamad’s phone also revealed that in the weeks leading up to the vandalism on July 29, Hamad referred to himself as a ‘Hamas operative,’ sent a picture of himself wearing a headband with the Hamas logo to another associate and exchanged messages with another individual regarding building an explosive device, including a video of a test detonation in early July 2024,” the Justice Department said.
The maximum sentence under the law in this case is two years in prison and a $200,000 fine, per the Justice Department.
Rabbi Henoch Rosenfeld, executive director of Chabad Young Professionals Pittsburgh, told JNS that “we will continue to take common-sense precautions, but we will not be intimidated.”
“We intend to continue to do Jewish—loudly and proudly,” he said.
Rabbi Yisroel Altein, of Chabad of Squirrel Hill, told JNS that the community “is very grateful that law enforcement saw this all the way through.”
“The community is very comforted knowing that the perpetrators are being held responsible and that these antisemitic acts of vandalism and violence are not being tolerated,” he said.
Someone by the same name as one of the defendants was quoted in a news story in April and identified as a recent University of Pittsburgh graduate. The person “said she wants Biden to be more forceful in his support for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war,” the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
“Everything in my bones is telling me to stand up for people,” the person told the paper in April. “We’ve been begging and pleading for a ceasefire for six months now.”
A verified profile on the CouchSurfing website for someone by the same name purports to be a 24-year-old who is “fluent in English, Hebrew (modern)” and “learning Arabic, French.”
“I go to school in Pennsylvania for international relations and Arabic. I love animals, peace, nature, culture and traveling,” per the profile. “In New York City, I am vegan, but when traveling if necessary will have milk and eggs. I run an animal activism club in my university. I am an agnostic Jew. The most important values to me are truth, compassion and courage.”
The profile states that “if I don’t know Arabic, my information about the conflicts-crisis in the Middle East comes from send hand accounts of events, and translations, which are often bias.” It adds, “If I know Arabic, I can find more accurate information by talking to people and reading primary sources.”
Someone by the same name is listed on the website of Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) as among the “members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community” who were signatories of a Nov. 20 letter calling for a ceasefire and accusing Israel of “indiscriminate” bombing.
Rosenfeld told JNS that he didn’t know either of the defendants. Altein told JNS, “I did see it being reported that she is Jewish, but I do not know her.”
The Squirrel Hill neighborhood was the site of a mass shooting by a lone gunman on Oct. 27, 2018, at the Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha Congregation, when 11 Jewish worshippers were murdered.