Florida man charged with attempted murder, accused of shooting tourists he thought were Palestinian

(CNN) — A Florida man is expected to be arraigned on two felony counts of attempted murder Tuesday after he allegedly shot and injured two men he thought were “Palestinian,” according to Miami Beach police.

Officer Christopher Bess, a spokesman for the Miami Beach police department, told CNN the victims were tourists from Israel.

Mordechai Brafman, 27, was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida, late Saturday after allegedly firing 17 times into the victims’ car, injuring both the driver and a passenger, according to a police affidavit.

“It should be noted,” the affidavit states, “that while in custody in our interview room, the defendant spontaneously stated that while he was driving his truck, he saw two Palestinians and shot and killed both.”

The shooting in Miami Beach comes amid heightened tensions as Arab countries attempt to come up with a post-war plan for Gaza, following a tenuous ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Both victims survived the shooting; one victim was shot in the left shoulder, while a bullet grazed the second victim in the left forearm, police records state.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli consulate in Miami for comment.

The Florida chapter of the Muslim civil rights organization the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has called for hate crimes charges to be filed against Brafman over “statements to police that reportedly indicate an anti-Palestinian motive.”

“It is the alleged shooter’s reportedly bias-motivated actions, not the actual ethnicity of the victims, that should be the determining factor for charges in this disturbing case,” Wilfredo Amr Ruiz, communications director for CAIR-Florida, said in a statement.

Last year, CAIR condemned the resurgence in anti-Muslim hate, noting in a report that the organization had received more than 8,000 complaints in 2023, most of them since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that year– the highest number documented in the group’s 30-year history.

Surveillance footage following the shooting shows the two victims speeding into a driveway before jumping out of their car and frantically knocking on the door of what appears to be an apartment building.

One of the victims, Ari Revay, spoke to CNN affiliate WSVN, telling the outlet through a Hebrew translator that he and his son were in their car when another driver “randomly started shooting.”

“He put the window down, driver’s seat and just blasted (us),” Revay told the station, adding he felt thankful to be alive.

“God, life is a gift,” he said.

CNN’s Zenebou Sylla and Michael Besozzi contributed to this report.

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