Indianapolis woman drives car into what she wrongly thinks is a Jewish center

A woman has been detained in Indianapolis after she drove her car on Saturday into a building she believed belonged to the Jewish community — but which was actually used by a group that espouses antisemitic views.

According to a statement by the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, Ruba Awni Almaghtheh drove her vehicle into a building used by the Black Hebrew Israelites, which has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

No one was hurt in the incident.

The building had a “semblance of a Star of David on the front door” and the words “Hebrew Israelite” on a sign, apparently leading the suspect to believe that the building was connected to the Jewish community or Israel.

According to Indianapolis’s WISH-TV, Almaghtheh told police she did it because of events in Gaza.

"Almaghtheh told officers she was watching news coverage of the Israel-#Hamas war on television and decided to plan an attack on the building because she was offended by the “Hebrew Israelite” symbol on the front of the building."https://t.co/Tkvz0fWEts

— Alberto Miguel Fernandez (@AlbertoMiguelF5) November 5, 2023