An American flag waves outside the US Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC. Photo: Al Drago via Reuters Connect
A gunman who shot two Jewish men as they exited a synagogue in Los Angeles was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
In February 2023, Jaime Tran, 30 — an affiliate of the “Goyim Defense League” hate group — went on an antisemitic shooting spree, attempting to murder two Jewish men in the Pico-Robertson section of Los Angeles. Prior to the crimes, Tran called Jews “primitive” and told a former classmate, “Someone is going to kill you, Jew” and “I want you dead, Jew.” According to the Justice Department, he even described himself as a “ticking time bomb,” broadcasting his murderous ideations to all who knew him.
Opting against fighting the federal government’s case against him, Tran pled guilty in June to four charges the DOJ described as “hate crimes with intent to kill” and “using, carrying, and discharging a firearm” in the commission of an act of violence. His sentencing on Monday ensures that he will not again be free until the year 2059.
“After two years of spewing antisemitic vitriol, the defendant planned and carried out a two-day attack attempting to murder Jews leaving synagogue in Los Angeles,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Monday. “Vile acts of antisemitic hatred endanger the safety of individuals and entire communities, and allowing such crimes to go unchecked endangers the foundation of our democracy itself.”
He continued, “As millions of Jewish Americans to prepare to observe the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Justice Department reaffirms its commitment to aggressively confronting, disrupting, and prosecuting criminal acts motivated by antisemitism, or by hatred of any kind. No Jewish person in America should have to fear that any sign of their identity will make them the victim of a hate crime.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi added, “While this sentencing cannot fully restore the sense of safety stolen from the two victims and the Jewish community, it is a decisive step towards justice and a clear message that such acts of hate and violence will not be tolerated.”
The Tran case is not the first involving an antisemitic hate crime that the Justice Department has resolved this year.
In August, it announced that former Cornell University student Patrick Dai, who threatened to perpetrate heinous crimes against members of the school’s Jewish community after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
Last October, Dai raised the possibility of antisemitic violence at Cornell when he posted several statements calling for murdering Jews and raping Jewish women on a popular social media forum. In addition to threatening the lives of Cornell’s 3,500 Jewish students, who are 22 percent of the school’s student population, the posts threatened an attack on a campus kosher dining hall — named 104West — affiliated with the Steven K. And Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center.
“Gonna shoot up 104 west… Allahu akbar! from the river to the sea, palestine will be free! glory to hamas! liberation by any means necessary!” one of his posts said. Another read, “If I see a pig male jew i will stab you and slit your throat. if i see another pig female jew i will drag you away and rape you and throw you off a cliff. if i see another pig baby jew i will behead you in front of your parents [sic].”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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