A man charged with shooting two Jewish men in Los Angeles in February has pleaded not guilty to four federal charges. Jaime Tran, 28, was indicted on hate crime charges for willfully causing bodily injury and attempting to kill, along with two counts of discharging a firearm in a violent crime.
His trial is scheduled for April 11, as announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Tran is accused of targeting the men as they left religious services at separate synagogues on February 15 and 16. Both victims required hospitalization following the incidents.
Federal prosecutors noted that Tran had a history of making antisemitic statements, which escalated in severity from August to December 2022. He allegedly harassed a former classmate with threatening messages, including one that stated, “Someone is going to kill you, Jew.”
If convicted, Tran could face life sentences for each hate crime charge, and a minimum of 10 years for the firearm charges, with a maximum sentence of life. Authorities arrested him on February 17 in Riverside County, where they recovered various pieces of evidence, including firearms.
The victims, who were visibly identifiable as Jewish at the time of the shootings, have not been publicly named. The incidents occurred amidst a reported increase in antisemitic violence across the U.S., with the Anti-Defamation League noting a record high in 2021, reflecting a 34% rise from the previous year.