20-year-old Ohio man arrested for allegedly faking anti-Palestine hate crime



An Ohio man – who claimed he was a victim of an anti-Palestinian hate crime – has been arrested after authorities suspect he faked the attack.

Hesham A. Ayyad claimed that he was attacked for being Palestinian. He alleged that he was walking at 4:10 p.m. on Oct. 22 on a street in North Ridgeville, Ohio. Ayyad told officials at the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations that someone driving a dark-colored SUV approached him on the road.

Ayyad, of North Olmsted, said that he was the victim of a hit and run by the SUV.

The day after the alleged attack, CAIR-Cleveland released details of the alleged attack.

"The victim of the reported hit and run said he was walking home from eating lunch when a car slowed down and rolled down the window," read a post on the website for CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland. "The driver of the car allegedly started yelling at him using anti-Palestinian statements like 'Kill all Palestinians,' 'Long live Israel,' as he swerved his car to intimidate the victim. The driver then allegedly turned around and hit the man while shouting 'DIE!'"

Ayyad, 20, was reportedly taken to St. John Westshore Hospital for his injuries.

The statement posted a day after the alleged hate crime attack included a photo of Ayyad wearing a neck brace in a hospital bed.

The organization demanded that state and federal law enforcement authorities investigate the supposed hate crime attack.

“We call on state, local, and federal law enforcement authorities to monitor and investigate crimes related to the rising Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. We hope the North Ridgeville Police Department and the FBI will collect all the information they need to charge this individual with a hate crime. We should all feel safe to walk down the street to grab a bite to eat, go to the store and go to school," Faten Odeh – CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Interim Executive Director – said on Oct. 23.

Unfortunately for Ayyad, police did conduct an investigation into the hate crime attack.

After reviewing multiple videos from the area of the alleged assault, the North Ridgeville Police Department determined that the allegations were a hate crime hoax. Investigators believe the Ohio man had lied about being struck by a vehicle and there were no racial slurs screamed at the time of the alleged attack.

Police detectives said Ayyad suffered the injuries from a fight with his brother and the hate crime was a hoax.

“It was further found that injuries sustained at the time of the incident were caused by a violent fight that the alleged victim had participated in with his brother, which was confirmed by area video surveillance,” police said.

On Tuesday, Ayyad was arrested and charged with making false alarms, falsification, obstructing official business, domestic violence and assault.

His brother, 19-year-old Khalil A. Ayyad, was arrested and charged with domestic violence and assault.

The brothers were held at the Lorain County Jail before being released from custody after they posted bond on Wednesday.

A spokesperson for the Islamic council said on Wednesday, "We are currently seeking more information about this development. Our understanding is that the brothers have secured their own legal counsel. We do not yet know anything more about the nature of the charges."

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Hate hoax: Racist death threat written on Sacramento high school wall was done by black students, sheriff's office says



An apparent hate hoax at a California high school was exposed by authorities after the suspects – who are black – were caught red-handed writing a racist death threat.

Shortly after 5 p.m. on March 22, officials at Rosemont High School in the Sacramento City Unified School District reported that they found a racist death threat on the wall of a second-floor hallway in the school building. The racist graffiti written in pencil read: "All n*****s should die."

The graffiti sparked a full investigation by the Sacramento City Unified School District, as well as a public response from the superintendent and board president.

"Sac City Unified does not take any incident of racism lightly, and that is why we are widely sharing that another act of disgraceful racist graffiti has taken place in our schools," Superintendent Jorge A. Aguilar said. "As a community we need to loudly condemn this hateful act. Racist incidents will not be tolerated in our schools. We will work to provide the support needed for our students and staff experiencing trauma from this incident as soon as possible."

"The Board of Education is unified and committed to providing a safe and anti-racist learning environment for our students," Board President Christina Pritchett said. "We fully denounce all racist behavior, and will continue to do whatever we can to support our African-American community members who need to feel welcomed and loved at our schools."

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said, "Two Rosemont High School students were observed writing a racial obscenity" by a surveillance camera.

However, the surveillance video shows that the alleged perpetrators of the racist death threat are actually black.

"Rosemont High School Administrators were able to obtain video surveillance footage showing two African-American female juveniles clearly writing the graffiti on the wall," the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said.

Based on the video, school officials and detectives were able to identify both students accused of the hate hoax vandalism.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office stated it will "consult with the Juvenile Division of the District Attorney’s Office if criminal charges are warranted."

This is the second time in two months that there has been an alleged hate hoax in the Sacramento City Unified School District.

In February, a black female student confessed to writing the words "White" and "Colored" over water fountains at McClatchy High School.

Before the confession, the racist vandalism ignited protests with activists marching with signs that read, "END ANTI-BLACK HATE" and "NO ROOM FOR HATE."

Pair Accused Of Writing Racist Graffiti On Wall At Rosemont High School www.youtube.com