(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) An Ohio man, 20-year-old Hesham A. Ayyad, finds himself facing charges of making false alarms, falsification, obstruction of official business, domestic violence and assault after allegedly misleading authorities about being a victim of a hate crime due to his Palestinian background.
The saga began when Ayyad purportedly informed the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) about an incident involving a driver hurling anti-Palestinian slurs at him and subsequently hitting his vehicle, local media reported on Nov. 15.
Hesham A. Ayyad claimed he was assaulted and hit by car by someone yelling anti-Palestinian slurs at him.
He was just arrested for staging his own hate crime.
Better luck next time, Hesham Smollet!https://t.co/DRtmNEBOxu
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 19, 2023
However, subsequent investigations by law enforcement revealed a starkly different reality. The reported hate-fueled encounter turned out to be a fabricated narrative, with Ayyad’s injuries stemming from a physical altercation with his brother.
An Oct. 23 press release issued by CAIR initially portrayed a harrowing account. “The victim of the reported hit and run said he was walking home from eating lunch when a car slowed down and rolled down the window,” the group claimed.
The dramatic press release added, “The driver of the car allegedly started yelling at him using anti-Palestinian statements like ‘Kill all Palestinians,’ ‘Long live Israel,’ as he swerved his car to intimidate the victim. The driver then allegedly turned around and hit the man while shouting ‘DIE!’”
In Ohio, Hesham Ayyad, who alleged to be Palestinian, told police he was injured when an Israeli ran him over in a car — an allegation of a hate crime. Police investigated. They found video footage of the incident and determined that he lied, made it all up — he was actually… pic.twitter.com/BUPBraqjf6
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) November 18, 2023
Faten Odeh, the CAIR-Ohio Interim Executive Director, went as far as calling on the federal government to investigate the alleged crime.
However, a review of video footage explicitly contradicted Ayyad’s claims of being struck by a vehicle, revealing the fabrication behind his reported injuries.
“It was further found that injuries sustained at the time of the incident were caused by a violent fight that the alleged victim had participated in with his brother, which was confirmed by area video surveillance,” police said, according to Cleveland.com.
The purportedly fabricated allegations come as pro-Palestinian groups raise the alarm over the alleged increase in attacks against Muslims in the U.S. On the other hand, pro-Jewish groups counterclaim that anti-Semitism attacks are on the rise, stemming from the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in the southern region of Israel on Oct. 7.
At least 1,400 individuals, including U.S. citizens, died at the hands of Hamas terrorists that day.
