MIAMI – Prosecutors announced Wednesday afternoon that they are now treating a Feb. 15 shooting on Miami Beach as a hate crime.
Recommended Videos
Police said Mordechai Brafman, 27, opened fire on a vehicle and hit two men along Pine Tree Drive, telling detectives afterward that “while he was driving his truck, he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.”
Authorities said the two men were actually Israeli tourists — and survived the encounter. Police initially arrested him on two charges of attempted second-degree murder.
Officials with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said they have “reviewed the evidence in this case (and believe) it meets the statutory requirements for hate crimes penalty enhancement.”
It came after groups including the Council on American-Islamic Relations called for hate crime charges in the case.
“The SAO Hate Crimes unit reviews every criminal offense that has the potential of being motivated by hate, to see if Florida’s hate crime enhancement statute is applicable to the specific situation,” SAO spokesperson Ed Griffith said. “As a result of their review, the hate crimes penalty enhancement has been filed with the criminal court.”
Griffith said prosecutors intend to present the enhanced charges — raising the case to a first-degree felony — to a Miami-Dade judge on March 10, when Brafman is set to be arraigned.
Meanwhile, Brafman’s attorney, during a court appearance Tuesday, claimed his client was incompetent to stand trial and should be evaluated.
Brafman’s defense team claims he was “experiencing a severe mental health emergency” at the time of the shooting and said it’s “believed that his ability to make sound judgments was significantly compromised.”
As of Wednesday, Brafman remained jailed without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.