A Jewish man was targeted and attacked in Washington, D.C., by a suspect who less than a week earlier was released on cashless bail one day after fighting with Capitol Police, court and police documents show.
"He was looking for a Jew and he found me," the victim said.
The assailant, identified by D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) as Walter James, fought with Capitol Police officers on July 5 after trespassing at the Capitol Building, according to court documents. He was released without bond the next day.
On July 10, James approached the victim near George Washington University’s hospital and abruptly started punching him in the face, knocked him to the ground, and continued attacking him, the victim told the Washington Free Beacon. He told police that James said during his attack, "You are not the real Jewish [sic] and you guys are murderer [sic], you guys kill people in Gaza and in America."
The victim said he would stop wearing his kippah in public places, believing it made him a target. Police are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
But the man blamed D.C.’s criminal justice policies.
"This should have never happened," he said. He questioned why James was released after fighting with Capitol Police.
After his July 5 arrest, James was initially charged with misdemeanors for trespassing and for fighting with police. Under the criminal code, D.C.’s superior court is "prohibited from holding a defendant pre-trial on misdemeanor charges," a spokesman for the city's court system, Doug Buchanan, told the Free Beacon.
D.C. council members scrutinized catch-and-release in October as D.C. faced a violent crime surge, but legislators didn't include changes to the policy in a major crime reform bill that passed earlier this year.
The District ended 2023 with 274 homicides, a 20-year high, according to MPD data. Violent crime had also skyrocketed, though it’s trending downward with a 33 percent year-over-year decrease as of Friday.
D.C. also faced an increase in anti-Semitic violence last year, with 22 incidents as of Nov. 30 compared to 9 the year prior, a local NBC affiliate reported, citing MPD data. In December, for example, a man was accused of spraying two people outside of a synagogue with a foul-smelling substance and yelling "gas the Jews."
"It’s important for people to know the dangers of the city," the victim the Free Beacon. "I’m scared to walk around D.C. This is a Jewish problem."
"How is there any freedom of religion if I have to hide my Jewish religious objects for fear of death?" he asked.
In videos the man captured after the attack, James pushed anti-Semitic tropes, saying, for example, that Jews "hold the world ransom" because they "hold all the money and the resources." He said Jews "control our governments" and are "the cause of all our wars."
The victim suffered lacerations and bruises, and received a prescription for HIV medication after coming in contact with James’s blood. He also has severe head and back pain and said his jaw hurts so bad when he eats that he "can’t chew."
The victim refused to visit the nearby George Washington University hospital after the attack. He said he’d seen "people in scrubs walking around in keffiyehs," making him feel unsafe.
George Washington has endured a spate of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic demonstrations. Like many elite universities across the country, the school has dealt with a student encampment and anti-Israel protests calling for "intifada" and the eradication of Jews.
In October, campus agitators projected anti-Israel slogans on the side of Gelman Library, including "glory to our martyrs." In May, campus agitators projected an image of President Joe Biden with the words "Genocide Joe" under it and called for the beheadings of school leaders.