The man accused of shooting two Jewish men leaving synagogues in Los Angeles in February pleaded not guilty in federal court to hate crime charges on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
Jaime Tran, 28, is facing two hate crime charges and two charges of using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
The suspect allegedly shot two Jewish men as they exited Los Angles synagogues on February 15 and 16, wounding each victim. Los Angeles officials said that the men were shot because they were visibly Jewish.
Both shooting victims survived the attacks.
Tran entered a not guilty plea on Thursday in a federal court hearing. He is being held in prison without bail.
The suspect was taken into custody by police on February 16 after he allegedly shot two Jewish men in a largely Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles.
Tran was apprehended in Riverside County at 5:45 p.m., just hours after the second shooting took place. Police found a pistol and a rifle during the arrest.
The first shooting took place at 9:55 a.m. the day before in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles, near Beverly Hills.
A man in his forties was wounded as he exited a local synagogue, Beth Jacob, in the first shooting on February 15. A day later, at 8:30 a.m., a man in his seventies was shot roughly half a mile away from the scene of the first shooting.
Law enforcement officials told The Los Angeles Times that the suspect has a history of animus towards Jews.
But just hours earlier, police and Jewish leaders had said there was no evidence the shootings were hate crimes.
Tran said to investigators he had searched online for a “kosher market” and looked for a Jewish target nearby, an FBI affidavit detailed, according to AP.
Tran also had a “history of antisemitic and threatening conduct,” the affidavit said, citing text messages, emails and other documents.
In 2022, the suspect contacted former classmates in a message that contained antisemitic remarks about Jews, including a threat to a Jewish former schoolmate, the court filing said.