Eyewitnesses told Los Angeles police that a driver attempted to mow down Jews as they were walking near a synagogue in Hancock Park on Friday evening.
Mohammed Mohammed was arrested in connection with the alleged incident and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. According to security footage obtained by CBSLA, the suspect was seen making a “hard-U-turn” during the event, while another tape shows the driver reversing his vehicle and attempting to strike group a second time.
“We both scrambled in different directions so he slammed on his brakes and missed us, thank God,” one of the targets, who requested to remain anonymous, told CBSLA. “He clearly was going at us and it was even more clear on round two.”
“Why he chose us? Probably because of the yarmulkes on our heads,” added the victim. “We live with it every day. We live in fear and we hope and we pray that the LAPD and FBI take this more seriously than the initial response was.”
The incident, which is under investigation as a potential hate crime, occurred on La Brea in Hancock Park, where several synagogues are located. Jews frequently walk the area on the Sabbath.
Further, a third camera captured the driver running through a stop sign shortly after attempting to run the victims down.
“This guy had a thirst for blood on his fingers,” continued the would-be target. “You could clearly see in his face that he wanted to do something.”
“A witness snapped a photo of a Koran on his dashboard, and although no one says the driver — Mohammed Mohammed — verbalized his own religion, folks in this community say targeting someone else for their religion is always a hate crime,” CBSLA reports.
“I think this is just a much more violent, scary world than we all though it was,” Michael Schwartz, a resident of the area, said. “We had a few years of civility after the Holocaust, and now that window is closing.
LAPD has not yet responded to a request for comment from Breitbart News.
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