A self-claimed “Hamas operative” and a Jewish woman who claims to see fellow Jews as “enemies” are accused of vandalizing synagogues and Jewish community centers in Pittsburgh, court papers made public last week revealed.
Mohamad Hamad, 23, and Talya A. Lubit, 24, were charged with damaging religious property and conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States. The pair now face a maximum sentence of two years in prison and/or a $200,000 fine.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Hamad had discussed building an explosive device with a third party and had tested a detonation device in July 2024, according to the Justice Department.
The pair began their activities in October 2023, according to the affidavit, coinciding with Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, where terrorists massacred some 1200 people. They are accused of targeting the Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the building of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
Both the targeted sites are located near the Tree of Life synagogue, where a gunman enacted the deadliest antisemitic attack in America's history. The Jewish community has faced numerous threats since the 2018 attack.
Hamad, according to the document, self-identified as a Hamas operative. As part of that self-proclaimed identity, he sent pictures of himself wearing a green headband with a Hamas logo, the justice department reported.
The Lebanese-American 23-year-old is also reportedly a member of the United States’s Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
Evidence against the pair
At the end of July, the Chabad house contacted law enforcement as the words “Jews 4 Palestine” were sprayed on its building’s walls. Along with the text was an inverted triangle, a symbol that has come to be associated with Hamas.
Also, in late July, the Jewish Federation reported graffiti on its premises reading “[Jewish Federation] funds genocide” and “Jews hate Zionists.”
The affidavit revealed that Hamad purchased a can of “Strawberry Fields” colored spray paint on July 28, the same shade as the graffiti.
According to CCTV footage, the car used to travel to purchase the paint reportedly bore a strong resemblance to that used by the graffitist.
With three warrants, police searched Hamad's two vehicles and cell phone, finding a sweatshirt with a red triangle captioned, "RESPECT EXISTENCE OR EXPECT RESISTANCE."
The sweatshirt also featured the image of an armed, masked man.
Other evidence collected during the search included Hamad’s Google Maps search history, which included a search for Chabad’s address and a number of violent messages.
In messages to Lubit, who is said to have used the username ‘Warsaw,’ Hamad wrote, “My ultimate goal in life is Shaheed (martyrdom),2 everything else doesn’t matter nearly as much," “My goal sets are very different from the average person;" “I don’t see myself living long:” and “For me it’s really hard to think long term,” according to the affidavit.
Lubit had reportedly sought marriage and children with Hamad, but Hamad rejected those advances and responded, “It was a feeling of I could really see myself doing that life... But my heart yearns for being with my brothers overseas.” Hamad had previously written to Lubit, "for me you are Jewish so that is more than allowed for me.”
Email records from June, according to the affidavit, also revealed the purchase of two pounds of Indian Black aluminum powder from Pyro Chem Source and two pounds of potassium perchlorate KC104 from PyroCreations - materials used in explosives. These purchases were made under the name “Chris Petrenko,” which is believed to be Hamad’s alias.
The materials were ordered to be delivered to Hamad’s address. Hamad had previously researched information on the purchased materials using a database maintained by the National Institute of Health’s National Center for Biotechnology Information.
Hamad would later exchange messages with a third individual on Signal, planning to practice lighting “a big shell” on or about July 6, 2024, as a practice run for a future explosion.
Hamad also reportedly set still shots of an explosion.
In one exchange, a masked man was pictured wearing the same sweatshirt police discovered while searching Hamad’s property and a Hamad headband, holding an Israeli-American flag. In messages connected to the image, Hamad wrote, “yoinked that s***,” adding, “we don’t play.”
When a third party wrote, “pull up lookin like that,” HAMAD replied, “I really did lmao. Imagine the terror they saw if they had cams. Hamas operative ripping off their flags in white suburbia.”
On Signal, Lubit reportedly sent several messages indicating plans to attack Jewish institutions.
“If I join you in doing graffiti on this building it matters to me that it is done in good taste. But any bank or anything else that’s not a religious institution I’m happy to trash,” she reportedly wrote on July 27. “I wish I knew how to paint damn.”
“We only have one shot cuz after that they will have much higher surveillance. I think it’s wise for them to see other buildings like PNC & stuff getting tr*shed first. So they’re not like ‘you’re targeting the Jews,’” she reportedly advised, also on July 27. “If we target Jewish institutions before Zionist non Jewish ones I think they’ll see it as a Jew v other thing.”
“Actually there’s a lot of places I could do this. There’s a lot of Jewish institutions around.”
“Decorating Chabad.”
Among the many messages, Lubit also wrote she “can literally feel myself starting to see Jews as my enemies,” “Like, I’m ANGRY. I’m so tired of feeling like being Jewish means I have to second guess being anti oppression” and “I will not survive being Jewish if I don’t learn to get past that. I’ll just end up abandoning it.”
On July 28, she sent messages reading, “I’m tired of the voice in my head, telling me that a Jew would not go with the oppressed,” “Every day I think ‘I don’t want to be Jewish anymore’” and “This feels kinda like a last ditch attempt at staying Jewish.”
Condemnations
Authorities condemned the actions of Lubit and Hamad.
“Defacing religious property is not protected speech—it is a crime,” US Attorney Olshan said. “Members of our communities should be able to practice their faith without fear of being targeted for their religious affiliation, including, as alleged here, with a symbol associated with a terrorist organization. Protecting the civil rights of the people of Western Pennsylvania is of paramount importance to this office and our partners in law enforcement, and we are dedicated to pursuing justice on behalf of the victims of these crimes.”