The authorities arrested a woman who allegedly drove her car into a building in Indiana because he believed it was a Jewish school, according to police and court records.
An adult and four children between 7 months and 3 years old were inside the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge at the time of the crash Friday night, but no one was injured, according to police.
The 34-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and was being held Monday at the Marion County Jail on a preliminary charge of criminal recklessness in Friday’s crash.
She had not been formally charged as of Monday afternoon, said Michael Leffler, a spokesman for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Officeaccording to The Associated Press.
The woman told an officer she had been watching the news and felt like she could no longer breathe. “She made reference to her people in Palestine,” according to a press release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Departmentwhich said it had notified the FBI about the accident.
“He said he passed by there a couple of times and saw the ‘Israel school,’” the statement states, adding that the woman stated, “Yes. I did it on purpose.”
The building the woman crashed into is associated with the radical Hebrew Israelites, a group that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a “hate group.” Its ideology has become increasingly anti-Semitic, anti-white, anti-LGBTQ, xenophobic and misogynistic since the 1960s, according to the Indianapolis media outlet Estrella.
After the accident, in which the woman’s car suffered rear-end damage, she admitted to crashing into the building on purpose while talking to her sister during their courtesy phone call after her arrest, according to the affidavit.
Captain Chaapash Yahawadah, who claimed to be the leader of the Indianapolis schoolsaid the building’s foundation suffered significant damage when it was hit by the suspect’s car.
Speaking to The Associated Press, he said the school was hosting a class and school-related functions at the time and that the accident left the people inside stunned and traumatized.
He Jewish Community Relations Council of Indianapolis said in a statement that it had been notified of the accident.
“Although a Jewish facility was not attacked, solely due to an ironic misidentification, this is yet another reminder to maintain security protocols, remain vigilant for suspicious activity and report as soon as possible to the appropriate authorities,” the council said in a statement. release.
Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States have increased 388% since the attacks, compared with the same period last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which works to combat anti-Semitism and extremism.
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