UPDATE: Hassan Chokr has been arrested and charged with two county of felonious ethnic intimidation; more here.
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In the wake of rapper Kanye West's escalating public antisemitism, a Metro Detroit synagogue was targeted Friday afternoon by a man - identified as Hassan Chokr - shouting antisemitic rants and racial slurs. The incident occurred at Temple Beth-el in Bloomfield Hills, located on Telegraph, near 14 Mile Rd.
According to Senior Rabbi Mark Miller, a man in a white van showed up in the parking lot during the usual Early Childhood Center (ECC) drop-off time. The man began filming families and verbally harassing them. The Jewish advocacy group monitoring antisemitism - StopAntisemitism - tweeted a photo of the man.
HORRIFYING - while Jewish parents were dropping their kids off at Temple Beth El daycare in Bloomfield Hills, MI earlier this morning, a man in the white van outrageously screams “F*ck the Jews” and “F*ck Israel” while driving by. pic.twitter.com/lgXVzjoBi9
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 2, 2022
"[He was] asking them about Israel and making comments about that," said Rabbi Miller. "He also was hurling some racist epithets at some of our staff."
The man was also overheard saying, "Kanye was right."
This antisemitic act comes less than a day after Kanye West appeared on Alex Jones' Info Wars program, where he made numerous antisemitic comments and praised Hitler. Friday morning, West's Twitter account was suspended over a post depicting an altered image of the Star of David with a swastika inside.
Because Temple Beth-el prepares for potential threats, their security team was able to intervene right away. Bloomfield Township Police arrived shortly after, and the man was removed without further incident.