Talya Lubit sentenced for antisemitic graffiti

At a Sept. 10 hearing, U.S. District Judge Christy Criswell Wiegand sentenced Talya Lubit to five years of probation and ordered her to pay $10,534 in restitution.

Lubit, 24, pled guilty at a May 15 federal hearing to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and damaging or defacing religious property.

She was arrested last year with Mohamad Hamad in connection with graffiti painted on the property of Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. In April, the federal government filed a superseding indictment and added Micaiah Collins as a defendant for her alleged role in building bombs with Hamad, a former member of the Pennsylvania National Guard and Hamas sympathizer.

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Lubit’s father, mother and sister attended the hearing, as did Federation employees, including Jessica Brown Smith, the organization’s COO, who read a victim impact statement to the court.

In the impact statement, Smith said the crime Lubit committed was not simply vandalism, but rather “a deliberate act of antisemitism meant to intimidate and retraumatize an entire community.”

The Pittsburgh Jewish community, Smith said, was still healing from the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, calling it “the worst act of terrorism against Jews since the Holocaust.” As a result, Smith said, Lubit’s act was particularly despicable and revived deep feelings of “fear, violation and vulnerability.”

Because of Federation’s central role in Pittsburgh’s Jewish communal life, Smith said, the attack was against the “heart of a community.”

“Its premeditated nature based on our remote location made it clear that the target was not just property, but our employees. While we remain resilient, the impact of this act of hate was profound and enduring,” she concluded.

Chabad of Squirrel Hill Rabbi Yisroel Altein did not attend the hearing, but sent a written victim impact statement, in which he said the damage to his organization’s building was “symbolic.”

“Seeing our property defaced in this way sent a message of hostility and intimidation, and it was experienced by many as an attack on our entire community,” Altein wrote.

The graffiti incident, he said, caused fear and distress among Chabad’s members, leading to parents and seniors expressing feelings of anxiety and vulnerability.

The graffiti on Chabad’s building included an inverted red triangle, a symbol used by Hamas to mark its targets.

“Beyond the emotional toll, Chabad was forced to invest time, effort, and resources into cleaning, repairing, and increasing security at our center,” Altein wrote. “Funds that would otherwise have supported community programming and outreach had to be diverted to address the damage and restore a sense of safety. This act of vandalism disrupted that mission and left a lasting impact on those who call our center their home.”

The judge said she received several letters supporting Lubit — who is Jewish — including one from Lubit’s sister and another from Chabad of Pitt’s Rabbi Shmuli Rothstein.

In an excerpt from Rothstein’s letter read in court, the rabbi wrote that Lubit would be welcomed again at his organization.

Delivering a short, prewritten statement, an emotional Lubit addressed the court, stopping at times to fight back tears.

She expressed regret for her actions and said she took responsibility for what she had done.

“I’m responsible for hurting people,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

Wiegand could have sentenced Lubit to up to a year in prison or home detention, but said she didn’t because Lubit has a history of mental health issues and no other criminal history.

Following the sentencing, the Federation issued a statement saying it welcomed the sentence for “a deliberate act of antisemitism targeting our community.”

“We are grateful to the Department of Justice, the FBI and local law enforcement for their thorough investigation and commitment to ensuring accountability. Their work reminds us that hate has no place in Pittsburgh or anywhere in our country,” the statement said.

“We remain steadfast in our mission to strengthen Jewish life and to build bridges of understanding and respect across Pittsburgh,” the statement continued. “Today’s sentencing is an important reminder that hate will be met with justice, and our community will continue to stand strong.”

A hearing is scheduled for Mohamad Hamad, Lubit’s co-conspirator, in October. PJC

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