Six charged with hate crime after allegedly attacking Jewish student from University of Pittsburgh

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that six men from around the Pittsburgh-area have been charged after it says they attacked a Jewish student from the University of Pittsburgh in 2024. 

The six were charged by a federal grand jury with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, obstructing justice and conspiring to obstruct justice. 

“We will prosecute this alleged act of violent antisemitism to the fullest extent of the law,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This Department of Justice will always protect the First Amendment right to worship freely and without fear for Jewish Americans and all Americans of faith.” 

The individuals charged were Muhammed Koc, Omar Alshmari, Abraham Choudhry, Emirhan Arslan, Ali Alkhaleel and Adeel Piracha, all men ranging from ages 19 to 28.

The incident, which allegedly occurred around 2 a.m. in September 2024, began with a group of people yelling antisemitic statements to the Jewish student in a local neighborhood in Pittsburgh.  

The verbal confrontation began after the group saw the student’s Star of David necklace, according to the DOJ. 

The yelling was followed by a physical altercation, which left the Jewish student with “bodily injury that included physical pain, a split lip, and headaches.” 

All but one of the men were there for the initial attack, while one other person was involved in messages that showed the group allegedly conspired to lie in testimonies to the police and the grand jury, the DOJ said. 

The charges could lead to years in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines. 

The University of Pittsburgh says it assisted the FBI in its investigation into the incident.  

“On September 27, 2024, the University of Pittsburgh Police Department (UPPD) assisted the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in responding to a reported off campus hate crime. The FBI subsequently led the investigation, with support from UPPD. We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for their collaboration, which resulted in the arrests and arraignments,” the university said in a statement.  

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