Hate crimes unit probes Miami Beach ‘Palestinians’ shooting case – NBC 6 South Florida

A hate crimes unit is looking into the shooting of two men in Miami Beach by a man who allegedly said he thought were Palestinians.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that their hate crimes unit is investigating the case of Mordechai Brafman, who was arrested on attempted murder charges in the Saturday night shooting.

Miami-Dade Corrections

Brafman, 27, is accused of shooting 17 times at the two men in what Miami Beach Police described as an “unprovoked” attack.

While Brafman was in the interview view room with detectives, he “spontaneously stated that while he was driving his truck, he saw two (2) Palestinians and shot and killed both,” an arrest report said.

Video appears to show the two victims of a shooting in Miami Beach calling for help after they were fired at 17 times by a suspect who allegedly identified them as Palestinians. NBC6’s Christian Colón reports.

The two victims, a father and son who are Jewish and were tourists visiting from Israel, were wounded but survived.

In a statement, the state attorney’s office said they’re reviewing the case to see if it meets requirements for a penalty enhancement under Florida law.

“The SAO Hate Crimes unit reviews every criminal offense that has the potential of being motivated by hate, to see if Florida’s hate crime enhancement statute is applicable to the specific situation,” the statement read. “The Florida Legislature has taken the approach of creating an enhancement of the underlying criminal charge in such a situation (i.e. a 3rd felony crime charge is enhanced to a 2nd felony crime charge), rather than designating an offense as a specific hate crime. This increases the seriousness of the penalty for a charged crime upon conviction. So technically, there are no hate crimes under Florida law but enhanced hate crimes penalties for such an action.”

Prosecutors said the arraignment for Brafman is scheduled for March 10, which is when the charged crimes will be presented.

Brafman was ordered held without bond by a judge earlier this week.