Six men charged with hate crime, obstructing justice

A federal grand jury has charged six men with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, obstructing justice and conspiring to obstruct justice.

The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti on March 30 and stem from a September 2024 attack on a Jewish male in Oakland.

The seven-count indictment named as defendants Muhammed Koc, 27, of Pittsburgh; Omar Alshmari, 28, of Monroeville; Abraham Choudhry, 22, of Monroeville; Emirhan Arslan, 24, of McKees Rocks; Ali Alkhaleel, 19 of Pittsburgh; and Adeel Piracha, 22 of Murrysville.

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The victim, a University of Pittsburgh student, was attacked leaving Phat’s Bar near Semple and Ward streets, a student-heavy area, according to Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein, director of Chabad House on Campus-Pittsburgh.
Rothstein said the attackers noticed a Star of David on a chain worn by the victim.

The men shouted, “Free Palestine,” “F— Jews” and other antisemitic remarks before assaulting the student, according to Rothstein, who has been in regular contact with the victim.

After the antisemitic comments were made, Koc and Alshmari attacked the victim, according to the Department of Justice, causing physical pain, a split lip and headaches. Both Koc and Alshmari are charged with aiding and abetting one another and willfully causing bodily injury to the victim because of the individual’s actual and perceived race and religion.

The attackers discussed the incident through social media messaging and group chats later that day and throughout the following months, according to the Justice Department. During the discussions, Alshmari identified himself and Koc as the two individuals listed on a University of Pittsburgh crime alert about the attack. Both Alshmari and Koc admitted to being involved in the attack during the messaging.

The defendants conspired to obstruct the investigation by agreeing to falsely align their testimony about the attack and providing false and misleading information before the federal grand jury, according to the Justice Department. As part of the misleading information testified before the grand jury, several of the 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.”

Rothstein said he was happy to learn that law enforcement hadn’t abandoned or forgotten about the case.

“I think there are certain things that need to be seen through the end,” he said. “There are certain non-negotiables. Hate is a non-negotiable.”

The University of Pittsburgh issued a statement saying that their police department assisted the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in responding to a reported off campus hate crime following the incident and that the University of Pittsburgh Police Department supported the FBI during the subsequent investigation.

“We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for their collaboration, which resulted in the arrests and arraignments announced today,” the statement concluded.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said in a prepared statement that it is grateful to the FBI, Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the UPPD for their work.

“Their commitment to holding perpetrators of hate-motivated violence accountable sends a clear and necessary message: attacks targeting people for their Jewish identity will not go unanswered. We thank our law enforcement partners for standing with the Jewish community,” the statement read.

“Antisemitism has no place in our country,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justic Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to investigate allegations of violence against people of faith and will work to ensure the safe exercise of religious practices — whether that be through wearing religious symbols or visiting houses of worship.”

FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Richard Evancee said that violence targeting someone because of their religious beliefs is unacceptable.

“Freedom of religion is a fundamental principal at the core of many communities across our nation,” he said. “FBI Pittsburgh and our local, state and federal partners are committed to protecting faith communities from acts of hatred and intimidation. Incidents such as this will be met with a swift, decisive law enforcement response as we will pursue those believed responsible with the full force of the law.”

For the hate crimes and obstruction of justice counts, the maximum sentence is up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both. For the conspiracy to obstruct justice count, the law provides a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.