Security cameras documented 27-year-old Mordechai Barfman out of his truck and opened fire with a semi-automatic gun at a passing vehicle. He allegedly fired 17 times, hit the left shoulder of one of the victims, and draw the truth of the other’s left hand. At the time of his arrest, Barfman told researchers that “he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both,” according to the detention documents. Law enforcement officials did not confirm if the victims were indeed Palestinians, and in fact these were two Israelis on vacation.
The event became even more complicated when one of the wounded published “death to Arabs” on social networks after the shooting. “My father and I went through an anti -Semitic murder attempt,” he wrote. The Florida American-Islamic Relations Council called for federal indictments for hate crime.
“It is ironic and is very indicative that both the supportive suspect in Israel and the victim in Israel at the Miami Beach shooting event allegedly hold racist opinions against Palestinians,” he said Niad Awad The Council’s national manager, on Network X. “This is just the last example of hatred for the Palestinian-American community in this country and Palestinians in their homeland. The policymakers in our country should stop hate against Palestinians who led to the murder of the people in Gaza and hate in America.”