Man charged with murder for shooting dead Arab teen in roadside clash
Dennis Mokin accused of firing at an apparently fleeing Diar Umari ‘until the ammunition in his pistol’s magazine was used up’
A man from the north of the country was charged Sunday with murder for shooting dead a resident of a neighboring Arab village in a roadside attack last month.
According to the charge sheet, Dennis Mokin of Gan Ner was driving home on May 6 while under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he tried to overtake Diar Umari of nearby Sandala.
Umari, 19, then slowed down and drove toward the shoulder of the road before rolling down his window to ask Mokin, 32, where he was rushing off to. The remark apparently set off Mokin, who quickly braked and hopped out of the car while it was still moving.
The indictment said Mokin, with pistol drawn, fired several shots into the air as Umari exited his vehicle and that the two then began to brawl, with the former continuing to hold his gun throughout the altercation.
As they wrestled on the ground — which another road user filmed — Mokin allegedly fired two shots at Umari’s chest “with the intention of killing him.” Apparently attempting to flee, Umari than ran back to his vehicle as Mokin stood and began firing “until the ammunition in his pistol’s magazine was used up.”
“The defendant, who saw that the deceased collapsed, approached him, looked at him and quickly left the scene,” the indictment said.
As medical personnel alerted by bystanders took Umari to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Mokin continued home to Gan Ner, where he allegedly enlisted his sister in an attempted cover-up by instructing her to tell police she was driving at the time of the encounter.
Upon returning to the scene, the charge sheet said, Motkin’s sister told officers she had been driving but shortly after confessed she lied.
Along with murder, Motkin was charged with driving while intoxicated, abetment and other offenses.
Following the shooting, Motkin gave himself up to police and surrendered his gun, for which he has a license.
צעיר בן 19 נורה למוות בצפון אחרי קטטה בין נהגים | תיעוד@Eliashkenazi12 pic.twitter.com/sRa6yUnSlL
— וואלה! (@WallaNews) May 6, 2023
Umari’s family and leading Arab lawmakers have blamed the killing on the hardline government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and in particular, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir who has sought to increase the number of citizens licensed to carry firearms as a way of countering terrorism and deadly crime.
During a remand hearing last month, Umari’s father called Mokin a “terrorist” and blamed National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for his son’s death. Ben Gvir has sought to increase the number of citizens licensed to carry firearms as a way of countering terrorism and deadly crime.
And Arab lawmakers put the blame on on the hardline government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which Ra’am party leader MK Mansour Abbas said in a statement at the time “does not deal with violence and does not deter citizens from using weapons.”
Mokin’s attorney has argued his client acted in self-defense, had fired a warning shot in the air, and had thought Umari had gone to his car to get something with which to return and attack him. He has also rejected suggestions that Mokin acted out of nationalist, anti-Arab sentiment.
