Man arrested for shooting shotgun outside NY synagogue, saying ‘Free Palestine’ faces federal charges

ALBANY, New York — A man arrested for firing a shotgun into the air outside a Jewish temple in upstate New York been federally charged, officials say.

Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, who officials say fired the shotgun twice outside a synagogue in Albany yesterday, has been charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, FBI spokesperson Sarah Ruane says in a statement praising the “swift coordination” between federal, state and local law enforcement.

Alkhader, 28, is a US citizen who was born in Iraq and lives in Schenectady, which is near Albany. He told officers who questioned him that events in the Middle East “have impacted him,” according to court papers.

Alkhader was expected to appear in a federal courtroom in Albany today.

No attorney who could speak for Alkhader had been assigned as of this morning, and no phone number was listed for him in public records.

The episode in New York’s capital city happened on the first night of Hanukkah amid rising fears of antisemitism worldwide and fallout from Israel’s intensifying war in Gaza.

Officials say Alkhader is the man who was arrested shortly after the shots were fired at Temple Israel at around 2 p.m. yesterday. Police did not initially release the man’s name, but Governor Kathy Hochul said he was a local resident.

Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins said the man said “Free Palestine” when officers arrested him.

No one was injured in the incident, which the chief said was being investigated as a hate crime.