Indianapolis Woman Rams Black Israelite School With Car, Mistakenly Believing It a Jewish School

An Indiana woman deliberately crashed her car into a Black Hebrew school on Friday, believing it was a Jewish school.

Ruba Almaghtheh, 34, told Indianapolis police officers she was angry about the Israel-Hamas war and “couldn’t breathe anymore” after watching news coverage, WXIN reported. She said she was enraged by the symbol on the front door of the building, in a residential neighborhood.

She said she had passed the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge, which she called the “Israel school,” many times, and said, “Yes, I did it on purpose.”

The Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge is actually a facility of the antisemitic Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which believes they are the true Israelites of the bible. The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the loosely organized group a hate group.

The incident took place late Friday night while several adults and children were inside. Police did not say if anyone was injured.

Almaghtheh was charged with criminal recklessness and is due in court on Wednesday. Indianapolis police also notified the FBI of the incident.

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[Featured image: The Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge/Google Maps and Ruba Almaghtheh/Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department]