Indiana woman drove car into what she thought was ‘Israel school,’ authorities say
A 34-year-old woman allegedly drove her car into a building in Indianapolis because she thought it was an “Israel school,” according to police.
Law enforcement said one adult and four children — aged between 7 months and 3 years old — were in the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge when Ruba Almaghtheh crashed her car into the building. No injuries were reported.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a press release that Almaghtheh was arrested for criminal recklessness due to Friday’s crash.
Almaghtheh drove her Chevy Impala into the school building at 11:30 p.m. Friday, according to police. It’s not clear whether prosecutors will pursue a hate crime charge against her.
The press release stated that Almaghtheh “told one officer she has been watching the news and couldn’t breathe anymore.” It also said she “referenced her people back in Palestine.”
“She said she passed by a couple times and saw the `Israel school,”’ the press release said, adding she later stated, “Yes. I did it on purpose.”
The building is associated with Radical Hebrew Israelites, a group the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated a “hate group,” The Indianapolis Star reported. The center says the group’s ideology has become increasingly antisemitic, anti-white, anti-LGBTQ, xenophobic and misogynistic since the 1960s.
The Anti-Defamation League describes the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge as an “extreme and antisemitic sect of Black Hebrew Israelites (BHI) who believe that they are the only true BHI group because of ties to early organizations.”
Police said they have notified the FBI and the Marion County prosecutor’s office about the incident.
This comes as antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents are on the rise across the United States, largely as a result of the Israel-Hamas war. Thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the fighting since the violence broke out Oct. 7.
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