Man who shot 2 Jews outside LA synagogues sentenced to 35 years in prison

A man who attempted to murder two Jews leaving synagogue in Los Angeles on consecutive days last year has been sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Jaime Tran, 30, a former California resident and dental student, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of hate crimes with intent to kill and two counts of “using, carrying and discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence,” a statement from the Justice Department said. 

According to law enforcement, In February 2023, Tran drove to Pico-Robertson, a heavily Jewish neighborhood in L.A., in search of Jewish victims, and shot a man who was leaving a synagogue and wearing a kippah. The next morning, Tran shot another man wearing a kippah and leaving a different synagogue nearby. 

Both victims were injured in the attacks and survived. Tran was arrested two days later.

In a statement, the Jewish Federation Los Angeles said it is “grateful for today’s sentencing of the perpetrator responsible for the 2023 antisemitic shooting in the Pico-Robertson area of Los Angeles, which targeted members of the Jewish community.”

The statement added, “We hope today’s decision helps to bring closure to the victims and their families and makes our broader Jewish community feel protected.”

According to the indictment, Tran had a long history of making violent antisemitic comments and threats. In the months leading up to his attacks, Tran repeatedly called and texted a former classmate, sending messages including “Someone is going to kill you, Jew. Someone is going to kill you, Jew. Someone is going to kill you, Jew. Someone is going to kill you, Jew,” and “Burn in an oven chamber you bitch Jew.”

As of 2023, Tran was prohibited from buying firearms due to previous mental health holds, according to a statement from the Justice Department. But the statement said that around mid-February 2023, he acquired at least two guns using an intermediary, and then “used the internet to research locations with a ‘kosher market.’” 

Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is Jewish, said in a statement Monday, “Vile acts of antisemitic hatred endanger the safety of individuals and entire communities, and allowing such crimes to go unchecked endangers the foundation of our democracy itself.” 

Garland also alluded to rising rates of antisemitism in the year since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack launched the war in Gaza. 

“As millions of Jewish Americans prepare to observe the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Justice Department reaffirms its commitment to aggressively confronting, disrupting, and prosecuting criminal acts motivated by antisemitism, or by hatred of any kind,” Garland said. “No Jewish person in America should have to fear that any sign of their identity will make them the victim of a hate crime.”