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Michigan man charged after threatening synagogue-goers yelled antisemitic invective during arraignment
(JTA) – A Michigan man who allegedly threatened and harassed congregants at a Detroit-area synagogue uttered antisemitic slurs at the magistrate who arraigned him on Monday.
Meanwhile, the synagogue where the incident took place is planning events to help community members process both their trauma and their concern about how local police handled the incident.
Hassan Chokr, a Dearborn resident, remained in custody in Bloomfield Township after being arrested on Sunday, two days after he yelled antisemitic and anti-Israel invective outside Temple Beth El while parents were dropping off their children at its early childhood education center. After the incident drew widespread attention, including because of a video apparently filmed by Chokr of his conversation with police immediately following his departure from Beth El, he was arrested at his home and charged with two counts of ethnic intimidation.
As Magistrate Julie Nelson-Klein set a bond of $1 million for his release on Monday and outlined conditions if he is able to meet it, Chokr called her a “Jewish b—-_” and “Zionist b—-,” the Detroit Free Press reported. (Nelson-Klein is Jewish.) Court officials frequently muted Chokr, who appeared via video, as he ranted about God punishing the magistrate.
Chokr, who pleaded not guilty, had told congregants they were going to die, witnesses from Beth El reported. He also had delivered a string of profanities to families as he demanded to know whether they supported Israel, saying, “Do you support Israel? How dare you. F— Israel and Jews,” and hurled racist language at a member of the synagogue’s security staff who tried to get him to leave.
Temple Beth El Rabbi Mark Miller has been counseling families since the incident. He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “there is a mixture of anger and sadness” within the congregation.
Since Chokr’s harassment of the synagogue, he said, some of the children who were present saw a white truck parked outside and asked their parents, “Is that that man again?”
Chokr’s next hearing related to his actions outside Temple Beth El is set for Dec. 15. He also has an extensive criminal record and is also in the middle of prosecution in another case, where he has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and assaulting or obstructing a police officer, according to the Free Press. His Instagram page, which indicates that a previous version had been removed, contains multiple videos showing him making antisemitic comments; a highlight is called “F— the Jew.”
Miller said he and others in the congregation remained concerned about how the local police had handled the incident. Police officers had initially engaged with Chokr in a friendly manner and let him go free from a traffic stop even after he said he was heading to another synagogue — behavior that was captured on video and shared online by a prominent antisemitism watchdog. He was not arrested for two days.
“I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that, after what this guy did and said, he shouldn’t have been immediately in custody,” Miller said. “It makes me uncomfortable.”
The Bloomfield Township Police Department has defended its actions, saying in a statement that officers had deployed tactics meant to de-escalate conflict and “were able to assess that subsequent to the traffic stop the subject would not be an imminent threat to the community.” But a top lieutenant also acknowledged that locals were unnerved by the video and the police practices it captured, telling the Free Press on Sunday, “There are some concerns about that.”
Miller said his congregants have “some residual anger at the police” because of the traffic stop video, even now that Chokr is in custody. “Whether the police process was right or wrong, it feels really bad.”
Temple Beth El plans to hold a parent forum with a trauma and resiliency expert this week. Following that, Miller said, there will be a community-wide forum about law enforcement’s response to reports of antisemitism.
Miller took stock in the fact that the Jewish community has shown “resiliency” throughout the ordeal. “The same day that this happened,” he said, “we had an incredible Shabbat with a musical guest.”
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The post Michigan man charged after threatening synagogue-goers yelled antisemitic invective during arraignment appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’
Rep Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, on Sunday likened the Trump administration’s immigration rhetoric to Nazi depictions of Jews.
“It reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany,” Omar said in an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, commenting on a social media post by Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s senior adviser, in which he suggested that “migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.” Miller, who is Jewish, is the architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Omar called Miller’s comments “white supremist rhetoric” and also drew parallels between his characterization of migrants seeking refuge in the U.S. to how Jews were demonized and treated when they fled Nazi-era Germany. “As we know, there have been many immigrants who have tried to come to the United States who have turned back, you know, one of them being Jewish immigrants,” she said.
Now serving as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, Miller is central to the White House’s plans for mass deportations and expanded barriers to asylum. During Trump’s first term, Miller led the implementation of the so-called Muslim travel ban in 2017, which barred entry to the U.S. for individuals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and pushed to further reduce a longtime refugee program.
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “When I think about Stephen Miller and his white supremacist rhetoric, it reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany.” pic.twitter.com/GAjIMqFq26
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 7, 2025
Miller’s comments echoed similar rhetoric by Trump after an Afghan refugee was accused of shooting two National Guard members near the White House last month, killing one.
Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting last week that Somali immigrants are “garbage” and that he wanted them to be sent “back to where they came from.” The president also singled out Omar, a Somali native who represents Minnesota’s large Somali-American community. “She should be thrown the hell out of our country,” Trump said.
In the Sunday interview, Omar called Trump’s remarks “completely disgusting” and accused him of having “an unhealthy obsession” with her and the Somali community. “This kind of hateful rhetoric and this level of dehumanizing can lead to dangerous actions by people who listen to the president,” she said.
The post Rep. Ilhan Omar says Stephen Miller’s comments on immigrants sound like how ‘Nazis described Jewish people’ appeared first on The Forward.
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Nigeria Seeks French Help to Combat Insecurity, Macron Says
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Pool
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has sought more help from France to fight widespread violence in the north of the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday, weeks after the United States threatened to intervene to protect Nigeria’s Christians.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has witnessed an upsurge in attacks in volatile northern areas in the past month, including mass kidnappings from schools and a church.
US President Donald Trump has raised the prospect of possible military action in Nigeria, accusing it of mistreating Christians. The government says the allegations misrepresent a complex security situation in which armed groups target both faith groups.
Macron said he had a phone call with Tinubu on Sunday, where he conveyed France’s support to Nigeria as it grapples with several security challenges, “particularly the terrorist threat in the North.”
“At his request, we will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations. We call on all our partners to step up their engagement,” Macron said in a post on X.
Macron did not say what help would be offered by France, which has withdrawn its troops from West and Central Africa and plans to focus on training, intelligence sharing and responding to requests from countries for assistance.
Nigeria is grappling with a long-running Islamist insurgency in the northeast, armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest and deadly clashes between largely Muslim cattle herders and mostly Christian farmers in the central parts of the country, stretching its security forces.
Washington said last month that it was considering actions such as sanctions and Pentagon engagement on counterterrorism as part of a plan to compel Nigeria to better protect its Christian communities.
The Nigerian government has said it welcomes help to fight insecurity as long as its sovereignty is respected. France has previously supported efforts to curtail the actions of armed groups, the US has shared intelligence and sold arms, including fighter jets, and Britain has trained Nigerian troops.
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Netanyahu Says He Will Not Quit Politics if He Receives a Pardon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in the state memorial ceremony for the fallen of the Iron Swords War on Mount Herzl, Jerusalem on Oct. 16, 2025. Photo: Alex Kolomoisky/POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would not retire from politics if he receives a pardon from the country’s president in his years-long corruption trial.
Asked by a reporter if planned on retiring from political life if he receives a pardon, Netanyahu replied: “no”.
Netanyahu last month asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon, with lawyers for the prime minister arguing that frequent court appearances were hindering Netanyahu’s ability to govern and that a pardon would be good for the country.
Pardons in Israel have typically been granted only after legal proceedings have concluded and the accused has been convicted. There is no precedent for issuing a pardon mid-trial.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in response to the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and his lawyers have said that the prime minister still believes the legal proceedings, if concluded, would result in a complete acquittal.
US President Donald Trump wrote to Herzog, before Netanyahu made his request, urging the Israeli president to consider granting the prime minister a pardon.
Some Israeli opposition politicians have argued that any pardon should be conditional on Netanyahu retiring from politics and admitting guilt. Others have said the prime minister must first call national elections, which are due by October 2026.