Man charged for allegedly making antisemitic, racist threats at Bloomfield Hills temple
A Dearborn man has been charged with ethnic intimidation for allegedly making antisemitic and racist threats to young children, parents and security at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills on Friday morning.
Hassan Yehia Chokr, 35, was charged Sunday with two counts of ethnic intimidation by Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald.
“Anti-semitic and racist threats or ethnic intimidation of any kind, will not be tolerated in our community, and every such incident will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” McDonald said in a press release Sunday. “Our office created Oakland County’s first Hate Crimes Unit a little over a year ago to give us the resources needed to call out, investigate and prosecute these serious crimes.”
Chokr was taken into custody by the Dearborn Police Department and will remain in Dearborn's custody until his arraignment at 48th District Court.
In a statement, the Bloomfield Township Police Department said it used "all necessary tools at our disposal" to keep people safe.
"We stand with the Jewish community in deploring this incident and behavior, and in any such situation we will seek to hold anyone accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Officer Nick Soley, the department's spokesperson, said a statement.
More:Rising antisemitism alarms Metro Detroit's Jewish community
Through November, there were 220 incidents of white supremacy propaganda in Michigan, the Anti-Defamation League of Michigan told The Detroit News last month. In the same timeframe, there were 150 in 2021. In all of 2021, there were 112 antisemitic incidents.
The Anti-Defamation League reported a record number of antisemitic incidents across the country in 2021. There could be even more in 2022, Carolyn Normandin, regional director of Anti-Defamation League Michigan, told The News. In the first 20 days of November, there were 17 separate antisemitic incidents reported to ADL.
"When things happen on social media and people start talking negatively about Jewish people and throwing out antisemitic tropes, it begets a lot of rhetoric," Normandin said Sunday evening, adding that the threats were "very disturbing."
Even when threats don't immediately escalate to physical violence, she said, it can be terrifying to try to figure out in real-time if someone is making hateful comments because they pose a threat to people.
She encouraged people to immediately report instances of antisemitism like Friday's incident to law enforcement agencies.
"This is bad enough when it happens with adults, but when it happens with children, it can cause even more anxiety," Normandin said. "This is reaching a level that is very difficult, and it's happening one incident after another. This is difficult to face and to get through."
Staff writer Mark Hicks contributed.