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ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (WJW) — A man charged with threatening to kill Ohio’s U.S. Rep. Max Miller and his family in an “antisemitic” rant on a local highway pleaded not guilty on Friday.
A criminal complaint filed in Rocky River Municipal Court, obtained by the FOX 8 I-Team, charges Feras S. Hamdan, 36, with a misdemeanor count of aggravated menacing.
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Feras S. Hamdan (WJW photo) -
Feras Hamdan (Rocky River Police Department)
At his arraignment on Friday afternoon, Rocky River Municipal Court Judge Joseph Burke set Hamdan’s bond at $500,000. Rocky River Prosecutor Michael O’Shea had asked for a $25,000 personal recognizance bond.
Hamdan also now faces a new misdemeanor charge of menacing with an ethnic intimidation specification, due to Miller’s ethnicity as a Jewish-American.
Judge Burke referenced the recent attacks on two Minnesota state lawmakers, which authorities believe was politically motivated. Former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were slain in their home on June 14. State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot, but survived.
“Threats against elected officials — I’m just not gonna tolerate that,” Judge Burke said, later adding, “These are real serious allegations here. It’s not gonna happen on my watch. Someone’s gonna get harmed.”
Hamdan will also be made to surrender his passport upon his release from jail. He’ll also be placed under GPS monitoring. He has also consented to a no-contact protection order requested by Miller for himself and his family members.
Miller (R-Rocky River) in a social media post on Thursday, June 19 claimed he was run off the road that day by an “unhinged, deranged man” in another vehicle.
Miller, a 36-year-old lawmaker representing Ohio’s 7th Congressional District and former U.S. Marine, who said he is a “staunch defender of Israel,” said the confrontation happened while he was on his way to work in Rocky River.
It happened just before 9:30 a.m. on Interstate 90 East, near Hilliard Boulevard, according to police records and court filings.
” … Some unhinged, deranged man decided to lay on his horn and run me off the road when he couldn’t get my attention to show me a Palestinian flag,” Miller said in the video.
Miller told police a man in a black Tesla who was tailgating him told Miller he was going to “kill him and his daughter” and forced him onto the berm.
They both exited the highway at McKinley Road, according to the report. Police did not find the vehicle in the area.
The criminal complaint alleges Hamdan pulled alongside Miller’s vehicle and showed Miller a photo of the Palestinian flag on his phone while yelling “Death to Israel” and another profane remark against Jewish people.
He also hurled “antisemitic slurs” at Miller, according to a Friday news release from police.
Authorities are now working to obtain the cell phone with the Palestinian flag, as alleged in the complaint, O’Shea said Friday. He warned that anyone suspected of tampering with the phone could face a felony charge more serious than the charges currently against Hamdan.
Hamdan’s attorney, Issa Elkhatib of Cleveland, on Friday said they do not intend to surrender the phone, considering it a violation of Hamdan’s First and Fourth amendment rights.
The FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are also investigating the case.
Miller said he also sent the matter to the United States Capitol Police in Washington, D.C.
Capitol Police were expected to provide security for Miller and his family, according to the Rocky River police report. Capitol Police investigators told Rocky River police they were reviewing the case for possible federal charges, then later said local officers could proceed with an arrest if Hamdan was charged.
Hamdan later surrendered at the Rocky River Police Department and was booked into the Rocky River jail, according to police.
He’s due back in court on July 8, and is facing up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine on the aggravated menacing charge, Judge Burke said.
Elkhatib said Hamdan is a natural-born U.S. citizen, a licensed physician with his own private practice and “a model community member who has never committed a crime in his life.”
