A man who shot and killed two Jewish men outside two Los Angeles synagogues last year was sentenced Monday to 35 years in prison, federal prosecutors announced.
Jaime Tran, 30, was found guilty on June 3 of two counts of hate crime with intent to kill and two counts of using, possessing or discharging a firearm during or in connection with a crime of violence, according to the Department of Justice. I admitted it.
“After years of anti-Semitic rants, this defendant planned and carried out a two-day attack on Jews leaving a Los Angeles synagogue in an attempt to kill them,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. said. “Dastardly acts of anti-Semitic hatred endanger the safety of individuals and entire communities, and allowing such crimes to go unchecked endangers the very foundations of our democracy.”
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Mayor Karen Bass addresses community members and local and state law enforcement officials at City Hall about anti-Semitic violence at Yula Boys High School on February 20, 2023 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damien Dovarganes, File)
Tran is accused of fatally shooting two people from a moving car at point-blank range as they were leaving a synagogue in the predominantly Jewish Pico Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The suspect told investigators he was looking for a “kosher market” and thought there would be Jews in the area, so he decided to shoot someone nearby.
On February 15, 2023, he shot and killed a man wearing a yarmulke as he was leaving a synagogue service, then fled in his car. The next morning, he shot and killed a second Jewish victim, who was also wearing a yarmulke, as he was leaving the synagogue.
Tran was arrested the next day after a witness reported seeing someone firing a gun behind the motel. Prosecutors said the suspect told investigators that the shooting would have continued if he had not been arrested.
The shooting sparked anxiety among the city's Jewish community after authorities said the victims were targeted because they were wearing religious attire.
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Jamie Tran, 30, pleaded guilty last year to shooting and killing two Jewish men outside a synagogue in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Department of Justice)
At the time, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the “horror” of the two shootings was “felt throughout Los Angeles.” She noted that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Los Angeles and across the country, and said combating hate crimes “in all its forms” is a priority for the administration.
The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said in a statement that it thanked law enforcement and prosecutors and was “grateful for today's verdict” against Tran.
Prosecutors said Tran became obsessed with “anti-Semitic hatred” in the years leading up to the February 2023 attack.
In 2018, Tran dropped out of graduate school after making anti-Semitic comments about other students. Anti-Semitic comments from August 2022 to December 2022 include “Jews, I hope you die” and “Jews, someone is trying to kill you” to a former classmate. It contained a message. Tran described herself as a “ticking time bomb” and maintained social media accounts under the handle “k1llalljews.”
In November 2022, Tran emailed 20 former classmates a flyer that read, “Every side of the coronavirus agenda is Jewish.”
Authorities said Tran was previously prohibited from purchasing firearms for mental health reasons. In January 2023, Tran asked someone in Phoenix to buy two firearms.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks. (Karen Bass/Twitter)
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Mr. Tran selected the firearms he wanted and paid approximately $1,500 in cash to a third party, who purchased them.
Law enforcement identified the individual and he pleaded guilty to illegally selling the gun used in the shooting to Tran. Prosecutors said messages obtained from Tran's cell phone showed he asked multiple people to buy firearms and offered to pay additional fees if background checks were not completed.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
