Topline
Police in Los Angeles arrested a suspect believed to have shot two people in separate shootings this week outside a synagogue in a Jewish neighborhood in West Los Angeles, which police are investigating as a hate crime, amid a rise in high-profile antisemitic hate speech.
Both shooting victims were Jewish men, according to Los Angeles Police.
Key Facts
Investigators located the man, whose name has not yet been released publicly, in Riverside County, California, where they found him with a rifle and a handgun, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police believe he is the man responsible for shooting a man who was walking to his car from a synagogue in the city’s historically Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood just before 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, as well as a separate shooting that took place around 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning two blocks away.
Both victims were Jewish men, who survived the attack and are recovering from injuries after being shot in the back and arm, according to Sheriff Robert Luna.
The suspect, who police describe as an Asian male with a mustache and a goatee, has a “history of animus” against the Jewish community, law enforcement officers told the Los Angeles Times, though police have not yet determined a motive behind the shooting.
Following the arrest, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky called the shootings “deeply concerning” following a “rise in antisemitic attacks,” while Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles regional director Ariella Loewenstein condemned the attacks, saying it’s “always terrifying” when a person is “targeted because of who they are.”
The Los Angeles Police Department’s investigation, in conjunction with state and federal authorities, is ongoing.
Key Background
The shootings follow a rise in antisemitic hate speech primarily online and in fringe right-wing media outlets in recent months, most notably by controversial artist Kanye West, who was suspended from Twitter last December after he tweeted an image of a swastika. West, who had come under fire for spreading hateful speech online, also had multiple lucrative partnerships with companies like Balenciaga and Adidas terminated after posting tweets including one illiterately urging people to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE” and after telling professional conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, “I like Hitler.” In November, former President Donald Trump was also condemned for meeting with holocaust denier and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, while controversial NBA star Kyrie Irving was suspended from the Brooklyn Nets after he tweeted about a documentary that’s been slammed as deeply antisemitic, though Irving later apologized and was brought back to the team—before being traded last week.
Chief Critic
The sharp rise in high-profile online antisemitic speech late last year prompted President Joe Biden to issue a statement, arguing lawmakers need to be “rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides.” Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, also condemned anti-Jewish speech late last year, saying the country is dealing with an “epidemic of hate” and that “people are no longer saying the quiet parts out loud, they are screaming them.”
Contra
Despite the rise in hate speech in recent months, 2022 was not an anomaly when it came to antisemitic incidents, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which found incidents hit an all-time high in 2021, with 2,717 incidents, including assault, vandalism and harassment—a 34% increase in incidents from 2020. The ADL has not yet released its 2022 statistics.
Further Reading
‘Epidemic Of Hate’: Doug Emhoff Condemns Recent Antisemitism Spike At White House Roundtable (Forbes)
Man with animus against Jewish community arrested in L.A. shootings outside synagogues, sources say (Los Angeles Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/02/17/suspect-arrested-in-two-shootings-outside-los-angeles-synagogue/