By Erika Hernandez
Dec 11, 2023, 8:31 PM EST
Montana police reported Sunday that A woman was arrested after driving her vehicle several times into a religious group who demonstrated on a sidewalk, hitting and injuring a man.
Genevienne Rancuret, 55, was arrested by police in Billings on Saturday a few hours after the episode and taken to jail on charges of felony assault with a weapon (vehicle), felony criminal mischief and driving under the influence. alcohol, police said, according to The Associate Press.
It is not yet known if she has a lawyer to represent her.
The 45-year-old man who was hit suffered minor injuries. Members of the group he was with, identified by police as Israelis for Christwere holding signs and speaking through an amplifier at the time, according to a police spokesman, Lt. Matt Lennick.
Lennick said he did not have enough information to comment on what the motive might be.
A police update said the FBI was also reviewing what happened, along with local prosecutors, suggesting the federal agency was investigating whether it could be a hate crime.
Recently, the United States Attorney General Merrick Garlandwarned that both synagogues and mosques in the country are on high alert for possible acts of hatred against the Jewish and Muslim communities, which have increased since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
He emphasized the “sharp increase” in threats against Jewish, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities since October 7, when the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group began.
According to the prosecutor, the Department of Justice Community Relations Service is working with leaders of these communities, law enforcement, and civil rights organizations to provide support and respond to hate crimes through “dialogue, training, and mediation services.”
While the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, many Jews around the world face a familiar threat: a rise in anti-Semitism.
Modern anti-Semitism can take many forms, including conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the global financial system and media, attacks on synagogues, verbal abuse or hate speech, and abusive memes on social media, among others.
In the United States, from New York to London, from St. Louis to Sydney, Jewish communities are grappling with the hatred and intolerance that often erupts whenever the Middle East erupts.
Keep reading:
–Violent crimes in the United States decreased 1.7% during 2022
–Man hit a young man with a turban on a New York bus
–Man kills Muslim child with 26 stab wounds in Chicago and injures his mother, charged with hate crime