Warning: The following story contains information relating to hate acts and hate crimes against Jewish people
Two Jewish men were shot while leaving synagogues in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16. The suspect, Jaime Tran, was out on bail at the time for allegedly bringing a firearm onto the Cal State Long Beach (CSULB) campus last summer.
According to campus police chief John Brockie, on July 3, 2022, at around 6:05 p.m., campus police received a 911 call informing them that there was a man seen on campus with a handgun.
According to Brockie, officers responded to the scene and found Tran sitting down on some stairs, holding a firearm in his hands. Officers began to give commands to Tran, which he obeyed.
Police were able to disarm Tran and take him into custody. According to Brockie, police confirmed Tran had been holding a loaded glock.
An email from school officials that was shared online by students on Feb. 17 stated that a warning was not sent out to students because the arrest took place during the summer and that there was not an active threat to those on campus.
According to LA County’s Inmate Information Center, Tran was charged with a felony for bringing a gun to campus, but was released on bond on July 16, 2022 after 13 days in jail. His case was still ongoing at the time police believe he committed the recent shootings.
According to Brockie, Tran is an alumnus of CSULB who graduated in 2016.
He went on to attend dental school, where he was expelled in 2018 after making anti-semitic remarks, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court.
According to the same court documents, in Nov. and Dec. 2022 Tran sent mass emails to dozens of his former dental school classmates, falsely accusing Jewish people of fabricating the COVID-19 pandemic.
Court documents allege that in Dec. 2022, Tran began a particularly vicious hate campaign against one of his former classmates, who is Jewish.
A few of the messages Tran allegedly sent his former classmate include:
“Cut your [expletive] off and bleed to death you [expletive] Jew.”
“[Expletive] you piece of literal [expletive] [expletive] Jew. You [expletive] [expletive]. I hate you like [expletive] crazy you [expletive] stupid pathetic loser subhuman trash ugly disgusting worthless senseless Jew.”
“Someone is going to kill you, Jew.”
“Burn in an oven chamber you [expletive] Jew.”
According to court documents, Tran also made harassing phone calls to his former classmate and sent him a photo of a gas chamber.
On Feb. 15, 2023 police believe Tran shot a Jewish man who was walking out of a synagogue. The victim sustained a close-range gunshot wound to his lower back.
The next day, Tran allegedly went to a different synagogue and shot a man at close range in the bicep as the man was leaving religious services.
Both victims survived.
Later in the day on Feb. 16, Tran was arrested after discharging an assault rifle next to his vehicle, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Tran confessed to purposefully shooting the two victims. He told investigators he looked up the locations of kosher markets on Yelp before the shootings.
The Anti-Defamation League conducted a survey of 4,000 U.S. residents between September and October 2022 to measure the prevalence of antisemitic sentiments in the nation. The survey found that 85% of respondents believed at least one harmful trope about Jewish people, compared to 61% in 2019.
Tran has been charged with federal hate crimes. According to a statement by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, because the alleged crimes occurred in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the hateful nature of the crimes and Tran’s history of antisemitism, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the United States Attorney’s Office will prosecute Tran.
Tran’s trial for bringing a gun to CSULB will continue later this month.
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