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.
