Ohio Palestinian Man Arrested for Hate Crime Hoax

AP Photo/David Goldman

Remember when the media claimed there was a surge in hate crimes during Donald Trump’s presidency, and then it felt like so many alleged hate crimes turned out to be hoaxes? The mainstream media was so desperate to perpetuate the narrative that Trump’s presidency was some sort of inspiration for hate that anyone claiming to be the victim of a hate crime was given a soap box.

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Well, now that we’re seeing a disturbing rise in anti-Semitism nationwide in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, some people are apparently trying to flip the narrative. An Ohio man has been arrested for lying to the police after claiming he’d been a victim of an anti-Palestinian hate crime.

Twenty-year-old Hesham A. Ayyad claimed that a driver yelled “Kill all Palestinians” and “Long live Israel,” and then hit him with his car while shouting “Die!" He took his story to the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which, naturally, fell for the story hook, line, and sinker and issued a press release last month calling on state and federal law enforcement authorities "to monitor and investigate crimes related to the rising Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism.”

Earlier this month, the Biden administration responded to the explosion of anti-Semitic incidents nationwide by unveiling a national strategy to counter Islamophobia. “For too long, Muslims in America, and those perceived to be Muslim, such as Arabs and Sikhs, have endured a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks and other discriminatory incidents,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Related: Hey, Liberals, Stop Faking Hate Crimes!

Included with CAIR’s press release was photo of Ayyad, donning a neck brace, in a hospital bed. Ayyad told his fake story to police, who reviewed footage from the area of the incident and determined the hate crime story was a hoax. According to local police, the “injuries sustained at the time of the incident were caused by a violent fight that the alleged victim had participated in with his brother, which was confirmed by area video surveillance.”

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Ayyad was arrested on Tuesday on charges including making false alarms, falsification, obstructing official business, domestic violence, and assault. His brother, 19-year-old Khalil A. Ayyad, was also arrested on charges of domestic violence and assault. The brother are both in custody at the Lorain County Jail awaiting a hearing in Elyria Municipal Court.

A spokesperson for CAIR revealed that they are not representing the brothers. “Our understanding is that the brothers have secured their own legal counsel. We do not yet know anything more about the nature of the charges,” a statement from the organization said.

Sadly, this incident is eerily reminiscent of the effort during Trump’s presidency to blame Trump for an alleged increase in hate crimes. Clearly, there are people out there who will do anything to perpetuate the narrative of a rise in Islamophobia since the Israel-Hamas war, even fake a hate crime. The most famous incident was in January 2019, when Jussie Smollett, a homosexual black actor whose career was on the decline, faked being a victim of a hate crime. Smollett enlisted the help of two brothers, who donned red hats and stage an assault on him in the middle of the night, complete with racial slurs and the chant, “This is MAGA country!” The goal of deceiving others into believing he had been targeted by white Trump supporters. Smollett’s story was absurd, and while many in Hollywood and on the political left rushed to condemn the “attack,” the ruse was spotted quickly by law enforcement. Smollett was later arrested and convicted by a jury of his peers on five out of the six felony charges filed against him by the state of Illinois. Many high-profile Democrats believed his cockamamie story when it first became public, including Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

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In March of 2019, journalist Andy Ngo profiled 18 hate crimes blamed on Trump supporters that turned out to be hoaxes. There are hundreds more known fake hate crimes as well. How many fake anti-Palestinian hate crimes will be reported and immediately believed by the mainstream media? 

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