Mistaken Identity: Israelis shot, they were assumed Palestinian

In a wild case of mistaken identity a Miami man, Mordechai Brafman, shot at two Israeli tourists 17 times with a semiautomatic handgun mistaking them for Palestinians on Saturday night.

Surveillance footage showed Brafman’s truck making a U-turn, stopping directly in front of a vehicle, exiting his truck and shooting at the occupants 17 times striking both victims. Brafman, described by Israeli outlet Ynet as a “Florida Jew,” was arrested shortly after the shooting. 

The shooting sent both of the vehicles’ occupants to the hospital. One person was shot in the left shoulder; the other grazed in their forearm.

While in custody, Brafman spoke with detectives about the incident. Police reported he “spontaneously stated that while he was driving his truck, he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.”

Brafman remains in custody after his arrest on two counts of attempted second degree murder.

The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called for federal hate crime charges to be brought following the shooting. 

“We urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to bring hate crime charges in this case based on the alleged perpetrator’s statements to police that reportedly indicate an anti-Palestinian motive,” CAIR Florida’s communications director, Wilfredo Amr Ruiz said. 

“It is the alleged shooter’s reportedly bias-motivated actions, not the actual ethnicity of the victims, that should be the determining factor for charges in this disturbing case.”