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A man suspected of firing a gun in a San Francisco synagogue has been accused of alleged hate crimes, prosecutors said Wednesday. Dmitri Valerie Mishin, 51, has been charged with two felony counts of making threats to obstruct the exercise of religion, along with six misdemeanor counts for allegedly brandishing a replica firearm and disturbing a religious meeting, the San Francisco district attorney’s office said.
In court documents, prosecutors alleged the interferences were hate crimes against Judaism. Police said Mishin is suspected of shooting several blanks in a synagogue on the night of February 1 and fleeing the scene. No injuries or property damage were reported.
The synagogue attack follows a recent incident in New Jersey, where a man is suspected of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the front door of a synagogue.
Antisemitic beliefs have spiked over the past three years, according to an Anti-Defamation League survey released last month. Almost 70% of survey respondents believed antisemitic tropes.
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A day before the synagogue shooting, Mishin allegedly brandished a gun at a theater on the same street as the synagogue and then fled the scene, police said.
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