Fake Hate: Police File Charges Against Ohio Man Who Allegedly Faked Anti-Palestinian Hate Crime
“A release from the department insists Ayyad not only wasn’t struck by a vehicle nor subjected to racial slurs, but that he was actually injured during an earlier fight with his brother…” – WKYC
An Ohio man and his brother are facing criminal charges after one of the brothers allegedly made up a story about being a victim of an anti-Palestinian hate crime.
According to WKYC, police say they have video footage confirming that Hesham A. Ayyad, 20, was not actually the victim of a hate crime but instead had a physical altercation with his 19-year-old brother, Khalil A. Ayyad.
Before we get into the charges, here’s what Hesham Ayyad alleged happened, according to an Oct. 23rd CAIR-Cleveland press release (archived link):
The Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland) today called on state and federal law enforcement authorities to investigate an alleged vehicular assault on a Palestinian-American man as a hate crime.
On Sunday afternoon, an individual in a dark SUV reportedly hit the 20-year-old victim while he was walking on Cook Road on the border of Olmsted Falls and North Ridgeville.
The victim of the reported hit and run said he was walking home from eating lunch when a car slowed down and rolled down the window. The driver of the car allegedly started yelling at him using anti-Palestinian statements like “Kill all Palestinians,” “Long live Israel,” as he swerved his car to intimidate the victim. The driver then allegedly turned around and hit the man while shouting “DIE!”
He was transferred by EMS to St. John Westshore Hospital for his injuries.
Faten Odeh, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Interim Executive Director said:
“We call on state, local and federal law enforcement authorities to monitor and investigate crimes related to the rising Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism. We hope the North Ridgeville Police Department and the FBI will collect all the information they need to charge this individual with a hate crime. We should all feel safe to walk down the street to grab a bite to eat, go to the store and go to school.”
The press release, which treated Ayyad’s claims as factual without question, was also posted to the CAIR National website (archived link), and a tweet was sent out alerting their 64,000 followers as to what Ayyad claimed happened:
An individual in a dark SUV reportedly hit a man in Ohio before shouting "long live Israel" and anti-Palestinian slurs at him. We urge law enforcement authorities to fully investigate this disturbing attack and charge the perpetrator with a hate crime.https://t.co/6vlX5ZIXS1
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) October 23, 2023
Several anti-Israel Twitter accounts with large followings promoted the story, also without questioning it, including @CensoredMen (751,000 followers) in a since-deleted tweet, self-proclaimed investigative journalist @ShaykhSulaiman (240,000 followers) in a since-deleted tweet, and Palestinian Dr./Imam Omar Suleiman (863,000 followers) in a tweet that as of this writing is still up but which now contains a Community Note:
Another anti-Palestinian hate crime in the United States. Our politicians and media have done so much harm. Please stay vigilant.
Via @CAIRNational
•
CAIR-Cleveland Seeks Hate Crime Probe After Vehicular Assault on Palestinian-American by Driver Shouting ‘Kill all… pic.twitter.com/p1D47TWEZV— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman504) October 24, 2023
Here’s more from WKYC on what police say they uncovered in their investigation:
However, as North Ridgeville police continued to investigate and view surveillance video from the day of the alleged crime, they eventually determined Ayyad had made the whole thing up. A release from the department insists Ayyad not only wasn’t struck by a vehicle nor subjected to racial slurs, but that he was actually injured during an earlier fight with his brother, 19-year-old Khalil A. Ayyad. Footage from the scene confirms the altercation occurred, authorities say.
Both Hesham and Khalil Ayyad were arrested Tuesday and charged with domestic violence and assault. In addition, Hersham Ayyad is accused of making false alarms, falsification, and obstructing official business.
The two brothers were released from custody Wednesday after each posted bond. Both are due back on Elyria Municipal Court this coming Tuesday.
Update: The "hate crime" was a hoax. There was no hit-and-run and no anti-Palestinian slurs. The man was injured in a fight with his own brother, and then @CAIRNational helped him lie about it.https://t.co/H2j9dhk4S0 https://t.co/uTPkqdqoIw
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 19, 2023
Remember the man who was attacked by a racist shouting anti-Palestine slurs in Ohio?
His name is Hesham A. Ayyad. He was just charged for faking the hate crime. pic.twitter.com/OEUMMDMj2b
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 19, 2023
This story was picked up by many of the usual sources of misinformation on this site as an example of Palestinian-Americans being targeted by hateful Israel supporters. pic.twitter.com/DAYL5m8tAu
— AG (@AGHamilton29) November 18, 2023
Perhaps the tell here should have been the phony assailant shouting “long live Israel” like a character in Game of Thrones. https://t.co/v8mj5crM2w
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) November 19, 2023
Hesham A. Ayyad injured by brother, Khalid Ayyad, charged by police for fabricating anti Palestinian hit and run story.
CAIR swiftly wrote a press release urging probe. CCTV finds no car incident, but evidence of DV. Will CAIR correct the record?
https://t.co/AKJjlZVWvp pic.twitter.com/TVL8pGGZ4W— 𑆩𑆳𑆬𑆴𑆤𑆵 Sarah L Gates (@SarahLGates1) November 19, 2023
“Will CAIR correct the record?” Not yet (if ever), if what they told Newsweek is any indication:
In response to Ayyad’s charges, Odeh told Newsweek in an email that CAIR-Cleveland does not have any additional information on the case.
“We are currently seeking more information about this development,” Odeh said. “Our understanding is the individual has secured his own legal counsel. We do not yet know anything more about the nature of the charges.”
It’s amazing how Ayyad went from being called a “victim” by CAIR-Cleveland in their initial write-up to merely an “individual” once the two brothers were arrested. Surely next time around they’ll treat such stories as allegations that should be thoroughly investigated first instead of immediately jumping to conclusions and assuming the supposed victim is telling the truth, right?
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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Comments
Victimhood has been a sometimes lucrative and always exalted position in our culture.
Is it possible that CAIR was complicit in this SCAM?
Possible? I’d rate it certain.
By promoting the false story without verification, CAIR is complicit.
CAIR claiming they are seeking more information reminds me of OJ, announcing that he was going to hunt down Nicole’s real killer.
Just assume that CAIR is misspelled with a ‘C’ instead of an ‘L’
Anyone seen Jussie Smollett?
He was driving recklessly through Charlottesville last week in a General Lee Dodge Charger, screaming “Long live Israel!”
Gee, what a surprise.
Not that anti-Moslem hate crimes never happen; they do, but they seem to be very much the exception, not the rule. They’re zebras, not horses.
Political irony: in taxonomic family terms, so are donkeys.
The only thing that surprises me is that it took so long for someone to try this scam. I would have expected it within days of the Hamas attack.
Which is why the Biden administration has made them a greater priority than anti-Semitic crimes.
Not much different than taking dead combatants and putting them in a mosque as if that is where they dies, praying no less. It’s akin to another part part of the dogma, “taquiya,” which involves dissimulation.
So sad the age we are in, where discrimination is so rampant it we get actor portrayals. “I’ve fallen in the park and I can’t get up.”
Yes, exactly. That struck me too. “Long live Israel” just isn’t something anyone says. Not even in Hebrew.
And everyone knows people don’t shout “DIE!!” It’s DEI, silly Ohioan.
Which is why the Biden administration has made them a greater priority than anti-Semitic crimes.
That occurred to me too. The phrase that we do frequently say translates as “the Jewish people live“.
עם ישראל חי
I thought Jussie Smollett had a copyright on this script
There are a lot of stories. Some of these people hate Jews so much they would willingly strap suicide vests to their own kids. I heard a story from Iraq where a kid and her father were brought to the green zone for medical care because the little girl had 2 fingers cut off. Apparently the dad did it so he can see the green zone and report back what was there. (no drones back then?)
The way these people abuse and use their children tells us all we need to know about them.
Now entry #490 at fakehatecrimes,org .
Given that so many of these hoaxes share a common element (so-called “victims” of so-called “hate crimes”), can we please just get rid of the insanity of “hate crime” laws, etc?
The legal system has enough to keep busy with actual crimes, and has no business trying to get into people’s heads to adjudicate alleged motives.
Hate crime is thoughtcrime, no more, no less.
“Your opinions made your actions worse.” How, exactly?
Where on the dolly did my opinion touch you?
No, it is not thoughtcrime. Hate crimes are real crimes. And yes, the motive often does make the crime worse. Our laws have always reflected that, and it’s obvious to any honest person. Some graffitist spraying his tag on a warehouse wall is committing the same crime as a nazi spraying a swastika on a Jewish house, but the impact is very different and so should be the penalty.
No. It is a thoughtcrime. NO crime has as an element of “motive”. Because, in our grand history of angloshpere “common law” and “natural law” and such, WHY is irrelevant to crime.
Also, graffiti on a warehouse and on a house are often different because the house would be considered harassment. And that harassment would be true, regardless of whether it was a personal beef, or racism, or some other form of discrimination. But the reason for it should never be a reason for a greater sentence – that’s where we lose equality under the law and dive deeply into rule of man.
Motive is not an element of “hate crimes” either. The elements of the crime are exactly the same with or without the motive. The motive merely enhances the sentence. And motive has always been a factor in sentencing. I don’t care whether you like it; it has been the law ever since we have had laws.
That is simply not true. You’re not entitled to your own history. Why has always been relevant to crime.
What is harrassment, if not motive? Motive is the key element of that crime.
But when someone paints a swastika on a Jewish house, his intent is usually not just to harm the property owner. His intent is to terrorize an entire community. And that is precisely what hate crime laws address.
When you beat someone because you have a personal beef with him, it doesn’t harm anyone but him. Nobody else worries that you’ll beat them next. But when you beat him because he’s Jewish, all Jews have to worry that they’ll be your next victim. So the sentence should be greater.
But hate crime laws do something else: They take the determination of motive out of the judge’s hands, and make sure you don’t get a harsher sentence for targeting a larger group unless a jury has found that you had such a motive, based on evidence properly presented and that you had an opportunity to challenge. That’s an important protection for defendants who previously were subject to a judge’s whim.
The legal system has always judged crimes’ severity according to their motives, ever since we’ve had a legal system. Committing a crime for a reprehensible motive has always resulted in a more severe sentence than committing the same crime for a more understandable motive. Hate crime laws merely formalize this, taking the discretion away from judges who might themselves be bigots and inclined to excuse bigotry, and also ensuring that it’s a jury that makes the finding of motive, based on actual evidence, rather than a judge based on his own whims.
Malarkey, Milhouse. Crimes are almost ALWAYS committed for reprehensible reasons. If a crime was committed for a noble reason (Yeah, let that cognitive dissonance sink in) THAT could be taken into account in conviction or sentencing. But a crime for criminal reasons were always supposed to be convicted and sentenced in accordance with the law. It’s only been progressivism that has pushed the concept of victim impact statements and such. And that is a perversion of the principles we used to have.
BTW, “hate crimes” merely move the bigotry with which you’re concerned into the hands of the legislature and the prosecuting attorney, instead of the judge or jury. It doesn’t remove it at all.
(Also, given your strident pedantry, that bit about allowing the jury to make a finding of motive, based on actual evidence to be incredibly naive and foolish.)
You are simply wrong, as a matter of legal history. Victim impact has always been part of sentencing.
And you are also wrong about the jury’s role. Juries have always been entrusted to determine motive, since that is an element in many laws. And under hate crime laws judges can’t impose sentence enhancements for the crime being motivated by hatred unless the jury has found that.
I’m waiting for the Stanford University student to be busted for making up a “hate crime” a couple weeks ago.
Such fakery is de rigueur in Palestine so I’m not shocked CAIR imitates it.
Jussamad Bin Saadett
IMO the only way to stop the fake/hoax/staged ‘crimes’ is to institute a minimum sentence equivalent to the minimum sentence of the fake crime being alleged. That would be in addiction to the existing ‘lying’ to LEO. So long as the potential payoff for a false report far outweighs the potential consequences it will not stop.
That still requires that the person be actually prosecuted, which often doesn’t happen.
True. It will.require a shift to make the potential negative incentives outweigh the potential positive incentives. Bringing back dueling would help. As would sensible reform to libel, slander, defamation. Everyone should be free to say or write what they wish, they should not escape consequences of making things up or repeating/publishing something without any due diligence. Perhaps if they append the statement of ‘This is an opinion and no factual basis exists to support the claim’ would work.
For these fake hate crimes, I wish that the criminal justice system would assign the punishment to the faker as if the faker had committed the alleged hate crime.
Islamophobia!
said he was walking home from eating lunch
Was he eating at Subway? I’m sure some of their sandwiches are halal….
Yes, some of their sandwiches are indeed halal. But I don’t understand your comment. Who mentioned Subway?
Never mind. I just got it.
I thought he looked a lot like Islamic Rage Boy. I guess I was right.
OK, he has been charged with faking the hate crime. The key question is not guilt or innocence and the proof thereof, however in modern America. The key question is whether or not the DA is one of Soros’ choices or any other Leftist. Because if the DA is, it means the charges will not be prosecuted, or will be plea bargained down to functional nothingness.
Subotai Bahadur
CAIR is working overtime these days. They are driving the pro-“Palestinian”/anti-Jew/anti-Israel protests and hostilities in the US.
CAIR, which has been connected to the US Muslim Brotherhood’s “Palestine Committee” and it’s other organizations, is an unindicted co-conspirator in funding Hamas years ago, according to the FBI. Bet NOTHING has changed.