Jury convicts man of hate crime in 2023 San Francisco synagogue shooting
A jury on Wednesday convicted a man in a 2023 hate crime shooting at a synagogue in San Francisco, authorities said.
On February 1, 2023, prosecutors said 51-year-old Dmitri Mishin entered The Schneerson Center, a synagogue in the city's Richmond District frequented by Russian-speaking Jews, and began speaking Russian to a group attending a religious class.
Mishin then removed a replica firearm from the inside of his jacket and shot about seven or eight blank rounds, and saying something to the effect of "Say hello to the Mossad" before leaving the synagogue.
No one was injured, but police said the incident left the congregation disturbed. Police also said that a day before the shooting, Mishin is believed to have entered a movie theater several blocks away on Balboa Street, brandished a gun and fled. No shots were fired.
Mishin was arrested two days after the shooting.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a press release that Mishin was convicted of six counts of interference with religious worship, along with hate crime allegations in each count. He was also convicted of six counts of brandishing an imitation firearm.
"There is no place for antisemitism in our community," Jenkins said in a prepared statement. My office is committed to vigorously prosecuting hate crimes and will do everything we can to fight hate in the courtroom. Hate crimes deeply impact victims and whole communities. Antisemitic incidents like this have lasting impacts and must be addressed."
Officers who searched Mishin's home in San Francisco found a jacket carrying the firearm used to shoot the blanks, the DA's Office said. Police also found a video from two weeks before the shooting, taken by Mishin, showing him burning an object in front of the same synagogue.
Investigators also found a photo of Mishin holding what appeared to be a grenade and wearing a military-style uniform with a bird symbol and a swastika on the bottom, posted to his social media account a day after the shooting, the DA's Office said.
Mishin remained in custody and was scheduled to be sentenced on August 29.