Luke Ford

From the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles:

A federal complaint was released on February 17 detailing federal charges against Jaime Tran, 28, who is suspected of being behind both shootings in the Pico-Robertson area on February 15 and 16.

The complaint, filed by Special Agent Cody Bescript, alleges that Tran “intentionally shot Victim-1 at close range as Victim-1 was leaving religious services at a synagogue in Los Angeles, California. Victim-1 was dressed in a manner that visibly identified his Jewish faith, specifically, a black jacket and a head covering. Victim-1 survived, but sustained a gunshot wound to the lower back.

On the next day, according to the complaint, Tran “intentionally shot Victim-2 at close range as Victim-2 was leaving religious services at another synagogue, just one block from where TRAN shot Victim-1 the day before.”

“Like Victim-1, Victim-2 was dressed in clothing that visibly identified his Jewish faith, again a black jacket and a head covering. Victim-2 survived, but sustained a gunshot wound to the bicep.”

Tran has admitted to the shootings in a recorded interview, adding that he searched Yelp for a kosher supermarket. Once he found the market, he chose his victims based on their “head gear.” He also said he was homeless and had been living out of his car for the past 12-14 months; he obtained the guns from an unknown person in Arizona.

Tran has a history of antisemitism, the complaint alleges, citing an instance in which a former classmate of Tran’s, simply known as M.N.H., received multiple antisemitic phone calls and texts from Tran from August-November 2022. Tran had been expelled from dental school in 2018. Some of the antisemitic text messages from Tran highlighted in the complaint include:

“F–king Jew. Piece of shit Jew. F— YOU JEW. JEWBAG JEWBAGEL JEW.”
“Someone is going to kill you, Jew. Someone is going to kill you, Jew. Someone is going to kill you, Jew. Someone is going to kill you, Jew.”
“F—ing b—- Jew. Your mom is a slutty whore, your sister is a man, and your dad sucks dick for a living. Burn in an oven chamber you b—- Jew.”

The last text included a picture of a gas chamber, per the complaint.

Tran sent multiple emails to former classmates blaming vaccine mandates and lockdowns on “Iranian Jews” and referred to “Persian Jews” as being “primitive” and “narrow minded” who “scrap nickel and dimes” and “never donate to any charities.”

Additionally, Tran sent multiple emails to former classmates toward the end of 2022 blaming COVID-19 vaccine mandates and lockdowns on “Iranian Jews” and referred to “Persian Jews” as being “primitive” and “narrow minded” who “scrap nickel and dimes” and “never donate to any charities.” “Going forward, I hope you all spread the word to your loved ones about the origins of COVID,” he wrote in one email. “I tagged the Iranian Jew, such as [M.N.H.], and his associates in this email so you could ask them about it. I also hope they quit putting tabs on me to the Jewish community and creeping on all of my socials.”

In another email Tran accused the “Persian/Iranian Jew of the Class of 2020” of fabricating COVID-19 and basing it on an “anesthesia incident that I had with” a couple of former classmates. He also sent a picture of a flyer stating, “EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF THE COVID AGENDA IS JEWISH.”