A teenage boy has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an Israeli locksmith in Memphis, Tennesee, the New York Post reported, citing the Memphis police.
Aviv Broeck, a 21-year-old Israeli man from Rehovot who had worked as a locksmith in Tennessee for the last few months, was shot and murdered last weekend.
A 17-year-old boy, who has not been named. has been charged with first-degree murder perpetration of a robbery and especially aggravated robbery.
The suspect is believed to have lured Broeck to the location of the murder under the pretense of requiring the services of a locksmith. Two hours later, one of Broeck's friends went looking for him after losing contact and found the young Israeli man shot dead right outside his car. The attacker or attackers were believed to have stolen Broeck's tools at the scene before leaving him to die.
Broeck's family has stated that they believe that the murder was a religiously-motivated hate crime and is related to calls to "globalize the Intifada."
“We are shocked and saddened at the murder of Aviv while he was in the United States. The police have so far provided us very little information we would like to have a civil rights investigation,” Broek’s family said in a statement following the murder.
“We have all heard calls to globalize the intifada and now we ask has this intifada come to Tennessee in America? Are Zionists safe in America?” the family asked, stating that "Jews are being hunted worldwide.”
“We are foreigners, Jews in a foreign land and we need answers and require assistance to demand justice for our son," they said while calling for an FBI investigation into the incident.
The police have not stated that they are treating the murder as a hate crime.