Suspect Who Shot 2 Jewish Men in LA Indicted on Federal Hate Crime Charges

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As RedState reported previously, Jamie Tran of Southern California confessed to shooting two Jewish men in separate incidents on February 15th and February 16th in Los Angeles. Tran targeted the men based on their apparel. He was taken into custody on the 17th.

Now, Tran has been indicted on hate crime charges by a federal grand jury, per ABCNews.

Martin Estrada, the U.S. Attorney of the Central District of California, said Jamie Tran, 28 was indicted on two hate crime counts for willfully causing bodily injury and attempting to kill his victims and two counts of discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence for the incidents that took place on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16.

The alleged gunman allegedly drove to the Pico-Robertson neighborhood in Los Angeles on both mornings, allegedly identified the victims, who were wearing yarmulkes, and allegedly shot them at close range, according to the indictment. The victim in the Feb. 15 incident was shot in the back after he left religious services at a synagogue, the indictment said.

Fortunately, both of the victims survived the shootings.

In both instances, Tran is alleged to have approached the men and shot at them from his vehicle. Per the criminal complaint filed in the case, Tran was homeless and had been residing in the vehicle for over a year. Following his arrest, Tran confessed to the shootings, as well as his anti-Semitic motivation.

Tran was advised of his Miranda rights and waived them, and in a recorded interview with LAPD and FBI agents, Tran admitted that he was responsible for shooting someone in the Los Angeles area earlier in the day. Tran stated that he had looked up a “kosher market” on Yelp and decided to shoot someone in the area of the market. Tran also acknowledged that he shot another victim in the Los Angeles area the previous day.

Tran said he knew the victims he shot were Jewish because of their “head gear.” Based on my training and experience, and my knowledge of the investigation, I believe his reference to “head gear” was a reference to a type of Jewish head covering. Tran asked whether the victims had died.

Further, as we noted in our prior coverage:

The search warrant request details how Tran had made anti-Semitic threats against former classmates and blamed the “Iranian Jew” or “Persian Jew” for COVID. Tran had also made a screenshot of a derogatory definition of “Persian Jew” and forwarded it to former classmates.

If convicted, Tran faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. He is set to be arraigned on the charges on March 9th.

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