Indiana Woman Arrested for Intentionally Crashing Vehicle Into ‘Israel School’
The building involved in the incident was not a Jewish school but is associated with a group known for its radical anti-Semitic views.
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Indianapolis, Indiana – A 34-year-old woman was arrested Friday night for allegedly intentionally driving her vehicle into what she mistakenly thought was a Jewish school. One adult and four young children were in the building at the time of the crash, but no one was injured.
At the scene, the driver of the vehicle, Ruba Almaghtheh, told police she was upset about the Israel-Hamas war, reports ABC7Chicago. She told officers that after she watched the TV news on the conflict that evening, she “couldn’t breathe anymore” and referred to the Palestinians. She repeatedly called the building she drove into the “Israel school.”
The building is not a Jewish school. It is the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge, which is associated with Radical Hebrew Israelites, reports the IndyStar. The group has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “hate group” because it has become increasingly anti-Semitic, anti-White, anti-LGBTQ+, xenophobic, and misogynistic over the past half a century.
The building that was targeted has a “semblance of a star of David on the front door,” according to a statement from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Indianapolis. “Based on this signage and ‘Hebrew Israelite’ wording, it is believed Almaghtheh thought the building to represent Israel in some way.”
The leader of the Indianapolis school, Captain Chaapash Yahawadah said, “Our statement to the Palestinian community is the Black and brown community has nothing to do with what’s going on over there, the war in the Middle East between Gaza and Israel,” reports NBC News.
Almaghtheh told officers she drove by the building several times and crashed into it on purpose.
She has been arrested for criminal recklessness. The FBI has also been informed about the incident.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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