The Indianapolis woman accused of crashing her car into what she thought was a Jewish school was experiencing a drug-induced “episode” and does not remember carrying out the anti-Semitic attack, her attorney claims.
Ruba Almaghtheh, 34, was under the influence of several medications when she allegedly backed her vehicle into a building associated with Black Hebrew Israelites on Friday night while shouting “Free Palestine,” her lawyer, Gary Colasessano, told The Associated. Press.
The lawyer claimed that Almaghtheh, a Muslim originally from Jordan, has been taking various medications for the physical disabilities and mental stress of a pending divorce while caring for her three children.
But Almaghtheh reportedly admitted that he was inspired to crash into the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge in protest of Israel’s relentless counterattack in Gaza that has left more than 10,000 Palestinians dead.
The “Hebrew Israelite” school has a symbol similar to a Star of David on its façade.
She told officers at the scene that she had been watching television coverage of the war in the Middle East “and decided to plan an attack by purposely crashing into the building because she observed a symbol located in the residence that seriously offended her and linked it to be an Israeli school,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Ruba Almaghtheh does not remember reversing her car into the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge, says her lawyer.IMPD
“Yes. I did it on purpose,” Almaghtheh allegedly said after his arrest.
He repeatedly described the building as the “school of Israel.” Police also said the driver referred to “his people in Palestine.”
Witnesses told investigators she made similar comments to them after they saw her deliberately put her car in reverse and drive back into the building, causing an estimated $10,000 worth of damage, according to the documents.
The Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge is a sect of the Black Hebrew Israelites, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Almaghtheh allegedly struck the building after becoming overwhelmed by “the constant barrage of news about the war in Gaza.” FOX59
It is also listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a group of “radical Hebrew Israelites” and is considered by the legal center to be a “hate group” whose ideology has become increasingly anti-Semitic, anti-white, anti-LGBTQ, xenophobic and misogynist ever since. the 1960s.
Almaghtheh, whom police called a “terrorist,” has no criminal record and attacked the building only after being overwhelmed by “the constant barrage of news about the war in Gaza,” her lawyer said.
Just a week earlier, she filed for divorce against her husband, who allegedly abandoned her and moved to Africa, court records show.
The Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge has a “Hebrew-Israelite” symbol that resembles a Star of David on its facade.FOX59
Colasessano states that his client is also under medical care for several physical ailments that cause her physical pain.
A judge ordered Almaghtheh during her initial hearing Wednesday to stay away from synagogues and other Jewish religious and cultural centers.
She faces charges of intimidation, criminal recklessness and institutional criminal conduct, all felonies, to which she has pleaded not guilty.
Almaghtheh allegedly admitted to crashing into the building on purpose. FOX59
Her bail was set at $200,000, an unusually high amount that prosecutors pushed in a motion claiming Almaghtheh “intentionally crashed her vehicle into a building she believed housed a religious or cultural center that supports Israel.”
“The allegations contained in the probable cause affidavit are extremely disturbing. We cannot and will not tolerate hate in our community,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement Wednesday.
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