A 28-year-old man suspected of shooting two Jewish men after they left synagogues in the Pico-Robertson district less than 24 hours apart was charged Friday with two federal hate crime counts.
Jaime Tran, previously of Riverside, was charged with committing a hate crime by interference with federally protected activities and use of a firearm in a felony, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday.
Tran is expected to make his initial appearance in Los Angeles federal court after 2 p.m. He will not be asked to enter a plea.
The defendant was “motived by antisemitism,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles. “Hate crimes have no place in our community.”
If convicted of both charges, Tran would face up to life in federal prison, Estrada said.
In a Mirandized, recorded interview, Tran acknowledged having intentionally shot the two victims, according to the complaint.
Tran allegedly told agents that he searched for a “kosher” market on the social medial application Yelp. After locating a kosher market, Tran drove to the market and selected his victims because of their “head gear,” he said, according to the complaint.
The suspect was tracked to an area in Riverside County and investigators began working collaboratively with federal and regional partners to locate him, police said. The suspect was arrested at 5:45 p.m. Thursday without incident, police said.
Detectives recovered several items of evidence including a rifle and a handgun, police said.
The LAPD announced before the arrest it was “re-allocating police resources to provide a highly visible and preventative presence in the area.”
“In an abundance of caution, there will continue to be an increased police presence and patrols around Jewish places of worship and surrounding neighborhoods through the weekend,” the department announced following the arrest.
The first shooting occurred around 9:55 a.m. Wednesday in the 1400 block of Shenandoah Street, near Pico Boulevard, between Robertson and La Cienega boulevards. A man in his 40s was shot in the back while walking to his vehicle, authorities told the Los Angeles Times.
The second occurred at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the 1600 block of South Bedford Street, two blocks south of Pico Boulevard and one block east of Shenandoah Street. The man was shot in an arm, The Times reported.
Both victims survived.
Mayor Karen Bass said Thursday that “antisemitism and hate crimes have no place in our city or our country”
“Those who engage in either will be caught and held fully accountable,” Bass said. “At a time of increased antisemitism, these acts have understandably set communities on edge.
“Just last December, I stood blocks away from where these incidents occurred as we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah together. Now, my pledge to the Pico-Robertson community and to the city of Los Angeles as a whole, is that we will fight this hatred vigorously and work every day to defeat it.”
According to the complaint, Tran — a former dental student — has a history of harassing people he suspected of being Jewish.
In December 2022, Tran allegedly emailed dozens of his former classmates, describing Jewish people as “primitive” and encouraging his classmates to blame any “inconvenience” or lost revenue from the COVID-19 lockdowns on the “Iranian Jew,” according to the complaint.
Between August and November of 2022, Tran allegedly repeatedly texted a former classmate antisemitic and threatening messages, the complaint stated.