Man threatened families at Jewish preschool in MI, then tried buying guns, feds say
A Michigan man accused of making “sickening antisemitic threats” toward children and parents in a Jewish preschool’s parking lot before trying to buy guns has been sentenced.
Hassan Chokr, 38, of Dearborn was sentenced Sept. 24 “to 34 months for illegally possessing multiple firearms” in a gun shop shortly after his 2022 “tirade” at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills, according to court records and a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
“Mr. Chokr accepts the federal judge’s sentence and is looking forward to complying with all the court has instructed him to do,” Nabih Ayad, Chokr’s attorney, told McClatchy News Sept. 26.
“He wants to put this incident behind him and move to better himself going forward. He’s learned that there are alternative legal methods to addressing his First Amendment right to free speech and the limits on free speech. He is dedicated to show his peaceful nature moving forward and has apologized to those he has offended,” Ayad said.
Chokr pleaded guilty to the charge on May 28, according to the district attorney’s office.
In December 2022, Chokr drove through the parking lot of the synagogue “terrorizing” parents walking their children into school, asking if they “support the state of Israel” and telling them they were “going to pay,” according to a Sept. 17 sentencing memorandum.
Court records show Chokr drove to a gun store less than two hours after the incident and tried to buy a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a 5.56mm rifle and a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, according to a criminal complaint.
Officials said Chokr lied on the Firearms Transaction Record form “about his eligibility to possess firearms by indicating that he had never been convicted of a felony offense when in fact, he had been convicted of a felony several years prior.”
While the store completed his background check, Chokr said he would use the guns to inflict “God’s wrath” and “even the score,” court records show. He was denied the purchase after failing the background check, according to court records.
After threatening to break into the store to “get his guns,” Chokr posted his denial slip on his Instagram story with a text overlay that read, “Time to bust out the drywall. Ouzzie time,” records show.
“Chokr’s sickening antisemitic threats and his apparent attempt to make good on them with guns are part of an alarming pattern of violence against believers,” United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in the release.
Chokr faced a maximum of up to 15 years’ imprisonment, according to officials.
