NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Police officers are searching for a man who had been in trouble with the law before when he walked into two businesses and shouted in a threatening manner in Miami-Dade County.
Moti Horenstein, who has been teaching an Israeli style of self-defense for over two decades and owns a studio in North Miami Beach, wants him arrested. Detectives identified him as James Desir.
Horenstein was teaching at his Krav Maga studio on Thursday night when Desir rushed inside and abruptly interrupted him and his students with his yelling.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Allahu Akbar!’”
Horenstein said that after hearing the common Arabic expression — meaning “God is great” — in this context he felt he had to put his training into action. Jihadists have tarnished it during terrorist attacks.
“I’m from Israel,” he said. “When we hear that, it means either, ‘I’m blowing you up right now!’ or ‘I’m going to stab you!’”
Horenstein feared that they were in danger. Surveillance video at the Krav Maga studio shows some of his students appeared to be very shaken up.
“We asked him to leave and he didn’t want to leave,” Horenstein said.
Detectives were asking anyone with information about the case to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.