Florida man arrested after shooting 2 Israelis he thought were Palestinians
The man, Mordechai Brafman, opened fire on the two men Saturday night, firing 17 shots. They were lightly injured
A police car pictured in Chicago on April 13, 2024. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Police in Miami Beach have arrested a Jewish man who shot at two people in a car, thinking they were Palestinian.
They were actually Israeli tourists.
The man, Mordechai Brafman, 27, opened fire on the two men Saturday night, firing 17 shots. Local reports say he told police that “while he was driving his truck, he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.” Israeli media have identified Brafman, a plumber, as Jewish.
In fact, the men, a father and son, survived with injuries to their forearm and shoulder, respectively, and were taken to the hospital.
The man who was shot in the shoulder, Ari Ribay, posted on Facebook that he and his cousin Yaron were driving in Miami when a truck pulled up beside them and the driver began to spray bullets at them. Footage showed bullet holes in the car and Ribay coming out with a bloodstained shirt.
Before learning the shooter was Jewish, Ribay posted on Sunday morning that he believed the shooting came from a “nationalist motive.” He also posted a photo of himself hooked up to monitoring devices in a hospital bed.
“They shot me and my father in the car [with] 12 bullets,” he wrote. “One hit me, and I and my father are here in the hospital in Miami. My father is in shock and horror. We need your help.”
In 2023, a local TV channel identified Brafman as a “frequent customer” of Bagel Time Cafe, a local kosher restaurant whose Israeli and American flags had been torn down.
“It’s absolutely abhorrent to see this kind of vandalism for not only showing pride for Israel, but pride for the United States,” he said at the time.
He has been charged with attempted murder and is due to appear in court on Monday. His attorney said in a statement on Monday that at the time of the shooting, he was “experiencing a severe mental health emergency. It is believed that his ability to make sound judgments was significantly compromised.”
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