Overview
- The seven-count indictment, returned Monday, charges six Pittsburgh-area men with violating the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, obstructing justice, and conspiring to obstruct after a Sept. 27, 2024 attack in Oakland.
- Prosecutors say five defendants made antisemitic remarks after noticing the victim’s Star of David necklace, and that Muhammed Koc and Omar Alshmari assaulted him, causing a split lip and headaches.
- Court filings describe months of group chats where the men discussed the assault, identified themselves from a University of Pittsburgh crime alert, and agreed to align their accounts before giving false or misleading grand-jury testimony.
- The FBI, working with University of Pittsburgh Police, led the investigation, and agents arrested the six on Monday as federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division took the case.
- If convicted, hate-crime and obstruction counts carry up to 10 years in prison while conspiracy carries up to five, and all six defendants are presumed innocent as the university community looks for next steps.