SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. – Members of the Jewish community in Sunny Isles Beach spoke to Local 10 News Monday after a man was arrested last weekend for alleged hate crimes.
Police say Muhammed Ali Al Saccal allegedly used a sharp object to frighten Orthodox Jews in the community. Detectives were searching for what some victims described as a dagger or screwdriver.
“I didn’t say anything to Jews; I am 10% Jew,” Al Saccal, 39, said while at the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department headquarters on Saturday.
Sgt. Brain Schnell said seven victims disagreed and detectives had no doubt it was him, so he was facing charges and a prosecutor was investigating the possibility of hate crime upgrades.
“Over the past three days now, we’ve received calls about members of our Jewish community being harassed, tormented,” Schnell said.
A couple reported that they were walking along Collins Avenue on their way to a synagogue when Al Saccal targeted them.
“He drew a weapon out of his pants, chased them yelling antisemitic sentiments saying, ‘All Jews were the devil’ and ‘All Jews must die,’ Schnell said.
Rabbi Alexander Kaller had his congregants attacked by Saccal and cops say he was going around Sunny Isles Beach threatening Jews.
“It’s very disturbing,” said Kaller. “I had messages from other officers saying: ‘Rabbi, we will not tolerate any hate in Sunny Isles Beach.”'
Authorities’ measures against hate crimes have been getting tested since the Israel-Hamas war started about four months ago.
Al Saccal is a Sunny Isles Beach resident who was born in Jordan, an Arab nation that shares a border with the West Bank. On Jan. 28, an Iran-backed militia’s drone attack killed three U.S. Army reservists and injured over 40 troops at a U.S. base in Jordan, which has a peace treaty with Israel since 1994.
“We are not by any means, going to tolerate any type of crime geared towards hate or a specific group regardless of what’s going on in the world, regardless of what side this person is on,” Schnell said.
Miami-Dade correctional officers booked Al Saccal who was facing charges of harassment or intimidation based on religious or ethnic heritage and attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Kaller had a message for his and any community who are experiencing any kind of hatred:
“We walk and we won’t cave into any terror,” he said. “Trust in God and trust in our police department.”
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.