Indianapolis, IN – A woman was detained after she drove her car into an Indianapolis residential building used by an antisemitic group on Saturday, mistakenly believing it was a Jewish school.
Ruba Almaghtheh, 34, drove her vehicle into a house used by a sect of the Black Hebrew Israelites, which the Anti-Defamation League calls “extreme and antisemitic,” and has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
A local Fox News affiliate said Almaghtheh told police she drove her car into what she referred to as the “Israel school” on purpose after watching news coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas, and that she had referred to “her people back in Palestine.”
The building had a “semblance of a Star of David on the front door” and the words “Hebrew Israelite” on a sign, apparently leading the suspect to believe that the building was connected to the Jewish community or Israel, according to the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council.
Fox 59 said the building housed the “Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge,” and several adults and children were inside when Almaghtheh backed her vehicle into it on Saturday morning.
The outlet said Almaghtheh was arrested on a preliminary charge of criminal recklessness, while CBS 4 said she faced a preliminary charge of intimidation, which would be a felony if the threat is for an act of terrorism.
