‘I did it on purpose.’ Woman rams car into ‘Israel school’ in Indiana, cops say
Police in Indiana have arrested a woman who they say admitted to purposely driving her car into a building she thought was an Israeli school.
Ruba Almaghtheh, 34, is charged with criminal recklessness, according to a news release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Officers were called out around 11:30 p.m., Nov. 3 for reports of a vehicle crashing into a building. When police arrived, they found the driver, identified as Almaghtheh, the release said.
Almaghtheh told police she had been watching the news and “couldn’t breathe anymore.” She also referenced her “people back in Palestine,” according to the release.
Police said she told them, “Yes, I did it on purpose” after she drove past the building a few times and saw a sign that said, “Israel school.”
However, the building’s address comes back to the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge. The Anti-Defamation League defines the group as “an extreme and antisemitic sect of Black Hebrew Israelites.”
The sign on a trailer outside of the building says “Israelite School of UPK.”
Police said there were people inside the building at the time, but no one was injured.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office will make the final charging decisions, police said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was also notified.
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