Six men accused of assaulting a Jewish student at the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland in 2024 are facing hate crime and obstruction charges in federal court after an indictment was unsealed Monday.
The defendants are accused of approaching a Jewish man as he walked in Oakland, making virulent antisemitic statements to him after they saw him wearing a necklace with the Star of David on it and then attacking him.
“This Department of Justice will always protect the First Amendment right to worship freely and without fear for Jewish Americans and all Americans of faith,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
The defendants are Muhammed Koc, 27, of Pittsburgh, Omar Alshmari, 28, of Monroeville, Abraham Choudhry, 22, of Monroeville, Emirhan Arslan, 24, of McKees Rocks, Ali Alkhaleel, 19, of Pittsburgh, and Adeel Piracha, 22, of Murrysville.
The government has asked that Koc be detained pending trial. A hearing on that issue is scheduled for Tuesday.
According to the indictment, the alleged victim walked past a group of the defendants around 2 a.m. on Sept. 27, 2024, at the intersection of Semple and Ward streets, when the men called out to him with slurs about Israel.
The group argued for about four minutes, the indictment said, with the defendants saying things like, “I hate Jews, and I hate Israel.”
At 2:05 a.m., Koc punched the man in his face, and Alshmari struck him as well, the indictment said.
A bystander stepped in and the assault ended, police said.
Following the assault, and during the investigation into what happened, the government said the men colluded with each other to provide false and misleading testimony before a federal grand jury.
According to the indictment, both later that day and in the following months, Piracha and the other defendants discussed the incident in social media messages and group chats, during which Alshmari identified himself and Koc as two of the people listed in a University of Pittsburgh crime alert on the attack.
In their Snapchat group chat called “No Saving for the Love of God,” Piracha wrote: “was it the white boy who had the Israel chain?”
Alshmari responded yes, and then wrote, “He said some dumb [stuff] to Moe, and we punched on him by Shas. You think there’s cameras at that spot?”
Piracha wrote back and said he could check next time he was there, and Koc responded that the “[man] called me dumb 3 times, and I said say it again.”
In another conversation with an unnamed witness, according to the indictment, Koc admitted to the attack.
“ ‘Did u beat him up bc he was talking back or bc he was Jewish?’ ” the witness asked. “ ‘Please do not say bc he was Jewish.’ ”
“Koc did not deny attacking victim 1 because he was Jewish, but instead responded, ‘An FBI investigation over a busted lip,’ ” the indictment said.
During his initial interview with the FBI in January 2025, Koc denied being present that night. After he was confronted with surveillance video, he admitted he was there and said the victim swung at Koc and his friends first.
According to the indictment, over the course of the investigation, the defendants also messaged, FaceTimed and spoke extensively to align their testimony.
In one message on a Snapchat group called “The boys,” Piracha wrote, “I’ve been subpoenaed to court what has everyone said so we are all on same page,” and “need to make sure everyone on same page same story.”
During the conversation, Choudhry, Arslan and another person warned the group not to talk on a non-encrypted digital platform, the indictment said.
Choudhry later wrote to avoid Snapchat, saying “u gotta be careful w ur words,” “lying in court is a charge.”
Then, the indictment continued, on Jan. 23, 2025, Arslan messaged Snapchat’s AI chatbot asking “what charge is lying in curt.”
The chatbot answered: perjury.
Later, when they testified before the grand jury, the indictment said, the defendants lied about their involvement in the alleged crime and the motivation for the attack.
When asked at the grand jury if Alshmari heard anything at the time about the alleged victim being Jewish or about a Star of David necklace, Alshmari answered: “No, not at all. Yeah, him being Jewish, I think, is absolutely — that’s the last thing … I have nothing, nothing against Jewish people.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh said in a statement that the arrests “bring a measure of relief and reaffirm that Jewish identity is worth protecting.”
Shawn Brokos, director of community security for the federation, thanked law enforcement for its work on the case.
“Their commitment to holding perpetrators of hate-motivated violence accountable sends a clear and necessary message: attacks targeting people for their Jewish identity will not go unanswered.”
Kelly Fishman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of the Ohio River Valley, said the indictment is a statement on the serious consequences for antisemitic violence.
“No Jewish person should face an antisemitic assault simply for walking down the street wearing a Star of David,” Fishman said.
The defendants were arraigned on Monday.
Koc and Alshmari are charged with violating the Hate Crimes Act and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
Choudhry, Arslan, Alkhaleel and Piracha are charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice.
An attorney for Choudhry declined to comment. Attorneys for the other defendants could not be reached for comment.
