Federal authorities have charged two Pittsburgh-area residents with hate crime-related offenses after they allegedly vandalized various Jewish institutions with antisemitic graffiti.
Mohamad Hamad, 23, and Tayla A. Lubit, 24, are alleged to have targeted the Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh on July 29, 2024. Each location was defaced with graffiti displaying phrases and symbols connected to the terrorist group Hamas.
The charges, including conspiracy and defacing religious property, came after an FBI investigation tied the suspects to the scene through surveillance video footage and other forms of evidence.
The graffiti on the Chabad building read, “Jews 4 Palestine” next to an inverted red triangle, a pro-Hamas symbol that has been used widely in pro-Hamas protests across the country, according to the criminal complaint.
“The graffiti was painted directly below a sign reading ‘Chabad of Squirrel Hill’ and a few feet away from a large menorah, a Jewish religious symbol,” FBI Special Agent Brian Collins stated. The Jewish Federation’s sign was similarly defaced, with “Funds Genocide Jews, Hate Zionists” spray-painted in red.
The FBI began its investigation when surveillance video at Walmart captured Hamad purchasing a can of “Strawberry Fields” spray paint used to write the graffiti. Agents matched the paint’s barcode to the Walmart purchase and identified the suspect in the video.
Other surveillance video footage captured a vehicle similar to Hamad’s near both targeted locations.
“The Chabad video surveillance footage revealed that the car was a dark-colored convertible with the top up,” the complaint noted. Traffic cameras and additional surveillance were used to identify the vehicle’s unique characteristics, such as mismatched wheels on the driver’s side, linking it to Hamad’s address in Coraopolis.
The authorities also examined digital communications on the Signal messaging app between Hamad and Lubit. The messages revealed that the suspect was motivated by Hamas’ ideology.
Hamad, a U.S.-Lebanese dual citizen and former member of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, praised the terrorist group and even discussed becoming a martyr with Lubit. “My ultimate goal in life is Shaheed [martyr], everything else doesn’t matter nearly as much,” Hamad allegedly told Lubit.
For her part, Lubit, a Jewish activist, appeared conflicted about her identity as a Jew and her anti-Israel stance. She told Hamad that she could “literally feel myself starting to see Jews as my enemies.”
She seemed hesitant to participate in the vandalism. “If I join you in doing graffiti on this building, it matters to me that it is done in good taste,” she wrote the night before the crime occurred.
The FBI found that Hamad had bragged about the vandalism to a friend, saying, “Imagine the terror they saw if they had cams. Hamas operative ripping off their flags in white suburbia.”
Hamad was a supporter of far-leftist Democratic politicians, according to The New York Post.
Hamad donated $10 to Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar in Nov. 2023, after she called for an Israeli cease-fire the day Hamas attacked the Jewish state Oct. 7.
Hamad also sent $5 to Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib in April, after Congress censured the Palestinian-American congresswoman in November 2023 for defending Hamas’ attack against the “apartheid government” of Israel as “resistance.”
The arrests come at a time when antisemitism is on the rise. Pro-Hamas activists have vandalized Jewish institutions and used physical violence against Jewish students on college campuses.
The tensions intensified after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, murdering over 1,200 civilians. The assault kicked off the current war in Gaza as Israel works to eliminate the terrorist threat in the region.
