Suspect in shootings of two Jewish men in L.A. is charged with federal hate crimes

A man with a history of making antisemitic statements was charged with federal hate crimes after he allegedly shot two Jewish men as they left religious services in Los Angeles.

Jaime Tran, 28, was charged with hate crime acts, and admitted to police after his arrest that he had searched for a kosher market on Yelp before the attacks, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Los Angeles.

Both victims survived the attacks.

Tran had a disturbing history of antisemitic threats, according to the complaint, including emailing dozens of former classmates that Jews are “primitive” and repeatedly texting another former classmate with threatening messages such as “I want you dead, Jew.”

The unsealed criminal complaint shed new light on the two shootings, which prosecutors said were motivated by the alleged shooter’s animus toward Jewish people.

LAPD statistics show a 24% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes last year compared with 2021. There were 89 victims in 2022 and 72 in 2021, according to the statistics.

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