Michigan man who threatened parents and preschoolers at a synagogue pleads guilty to weapons offense
A Michigan man who allegedly yelled antisemitic threats at families entering a synagogue in 2022 pleaded guilty Tuesday to the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Department of Justice.
In December 2022, Hassan Chokr, 37, of Dearborn, Michigan, drove through the parking lot of Temple Beth El in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills as parents walked their preschoolers into the building, and yelled a series of antisemitic threats at them, according to federal prosecutors.
After he was asked to leave, Chokr — who had a prior felony conviction for a different offense in 2017 — went to a gun store in Dearborn where he attempted to purchase three guns: a shotgun, a rifle and a semi-automatic pistol. He lied about his criminal record, according to prosecutors.
While waiting for his background check, Chokr said that he would “even the score” and use the guns for “God’s wrath,” according to prosecutors. He was denied the purchase following the results of the background check, but was charged for possessing multiple firearms within the store during the attempted transaction.
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Related to original story:
Michigan man charged with ‘ethnic intimidation’ after harassing synagogue-goers over Israel
A man who was waved away by local police after hassling people arriving at one of the Detroit area’s largest synagogues on Friday was arrested Sunday on charges of “ethnic intimidation.”
Hassan Chokr was arrested Sunday, two days after video emerged showing local police questioning and releasing him, even after he said he intended to head to another synagogue.
Chokr had allegedly shouted antisemitic and racist threats outside at Temple Beth El, a Reform synagogue in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, as families were dropping children at the early childhood center on Friday morning. Beth El was Michigan’s first synagogue, and its architecturally significant building looms over the sprawl of Bloomfield Hills, one of Detroit’s most heavily Jewish suburbs.
“He was hostile and verbally abusive, shouting profanity about ‘F Israel’ and ‘F the Jews’ — and threatening people, yelling at them that if they support Israel, they will pay or he will get them,” Rabbi Mark Miller, Temple Beth El’s senior rabbi, told the Detroit Free Press. Miller said Chokr also used racist language against members of the synagogue’s security team.
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