Ohio Man Charged With Hate Crime After Beating Man He Thought Was Jewish
Image by LPETTET / iStock
(JTA) — A Cincinnati-area man was indicted on a federal hate crimes charge for attacking a man he thought was Jewish.
Izmir Koch, 32, beat a man who was smoking a cigarette outside a local restaurant. He was arrested Wednesday.
According to the indictment, Koch in February 2017 asked people standing outside the restaurant if anyone there was Jewish. When the victim responded in the affirmative, although he was not actually Jewish, Koch allegedly punched him, knocking him to the ground. Koch then continued to hit and kick him.
The victim suffered injuries to his ribs and a fracture of the orbital floor, the bottom portion of his eye socket.
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman told reporters that the victim was not actually Jewish, but since Koch beat him because he believed he was Jewish, a federal grand jury indicted him on one count of committing a hate crime.
“Physically attacking someone because you think he’s Jewish — or Christian or Muslim or any other religion — is a federal crime,” Glassman said in a statement announcing the indictment. “This office prosecutes hate crimes.”
If convicted, Koch could spend up to 10 years in prison.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
