29°
Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, of Schenectady, pleaded guilty to obstructing religious freedom by threat of force, unlawfully acquiring a firearm, and brandishing it during the crime in Albany federal court on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
The formal confession came more than a year after Alkhader took an Uber from Schenectady to Temple Israel in Albany, where he walked up the synagogue’s steps and pulled a shotgun from a duffel bag on Dec. 7, 2023. He then fired two rounds into the air while shouting “Free Palestine,” as Daily Voice reported.
Alkhader tried to remove an Israeli flag from a flagpole before walking away. Albany police officers arrested him shortly after.
The incident, which unfolded on the first day of Hanukkah, forced the synagogue’s daycare into a lockdown. It also “significantly disrupted activities that the Temple Israel community had planned to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and made congregants afraid to return to their place of worship,” the US Attorney’s Office said.
An investigation found that Alkhader had illegally obtained the shotgun through a straw purchase. In November 2023, he and accomplice Andrew Miller visited a firearms dealer in Albany, where Miller falsely claimed to be the buyer of the Kel-Tec KS7 12-gauge shotgun. Miller later gave the gun to Alkhader, who used it in the synagogue attack.
US Attorney Carla Freedman described Alkhader’s actions as a “violent, antisemitic and terrifying act” that targeted both Temple Israel and the broader Jewish community.
Alkhader has been in federal custody since his arrest and is scheduled for sentencing in June. He faces a minimum of seven years and up to life in prison.
Miller pleaded guilty for his role in the illegal gun purchase and was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
The shooting came amid heightened security concerns at Jewish schools and places of worship across the country amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Yonkers and receive free news updates.
