Mohammad Khan
*As of September 12th, the hate crime charge has been dropped. However, we encourage you to read the article to understand this development as a larger push to criminalize Palestinian solidarity.
In early September 2025, a jury trial is set to commence in North Texas for 32-year-old activist Raunaq Alam. He faces charges of spray-painting the phrase “F** Israel”* on the wall of a non-denominational church in Euless, a city approximately 20 minutes from Fort Worth.
While the graffiti accusation is grave, Alam and his attorney are more concerned about the broader implications of the charges.
Tarrant County prosecutors have invoked a hate-crimes statute to enhance Alam’s criminal mischief charges, potentially exposing him to a prison sentence ranging from two to ten years. This approach mirrors charges filed against two other activists in separate cases.
The official indictment asserts that Alam displayed:
“bias or prejudice against a group identified by national origin and/or ancestry and/or religion, namely, the state of Israel or Jewish faith.”
Legal experts argue that this application of the law raises significant constitutional and legal questions. They contend that equating criticism of the state of Israel with prejudice against Jewish people conflates a political entity with a religious and ethnic identity.
Alam’s attorney, Adwoa Asante, filed a motion to dismiss the hate-crime enhancement, noting that Texas law specifies which groups qualify for hate-crime protections.
Asante wrote:
“Nowhere in the statute does it cite governmental entities such as states as part of protected persons or groups. If citizens and persons within the United States are allowed to say and express ‘F*** America,’ why would the condemnation of a foreign country garner more enhanced prosecution from the state of Texas?”
Tarrant County prosecutors did not respond to requests for comment.
Yasmin Nair, a writer and researcher critical of hate-crimes legislation, argues that Alam’s case shows how these laws can suppress political speech.
“The notion of a hate crime has been fitted over these very expansive definitions of antisemitism. Now, hate-crime laws can be used to fulfil a rather different agenda, that’s not even entirely a domestic agenda. Even thinking of critiquing what’s happening in Gaza is considered antisemitic.”
Texas Senators Ted Cruz and Jon Cornyn are heavily paid by AIPAC. In fact, Cruz is in the top 10 of US Congress members receiving the most money from the Pro-Israel lobby, with nearly $1.9 million dollars. Cornyn has received nearly $500 thousand dollars.
Texas Representative of District 24, which the city of Euless is in, Beth Van Duyne has received close to $135 thousand dollars from AIPAC.
Criminalizing pro-Palestinian activism has become the new “Red Scare”
Alam has a long history of human rights activism, beginning in high school in Texas. Recently, he has focused on Palestine, where civilians have been killed in military operations by Israel, with reports of man-made starvation and widespread suffering. Some human rights experts describe these actions as genocide.
Asante emphasises:
“It’s simply a matter of how far the government is going to silence and repress anybody that opposes the genocide of Palestinians, so much so that they’re expanding what it means to engage in a hate crime.”
Alam insists he is not motivated by hate:
“I’ve always spoken out in favor of people that are oppressed. It’s something that’s truly embedded in my core. When I see people that are treated unfairly, I believe it’s my duty to use my voice for those people that don’t have a voice to speak or that don’t have a platform to speak.”
Legal Escalations
Since his arrest, Alam has faced multiple escalations:
Mark Streiff, a local defence attorney, believes Alam has a fair chance with a jury but notes that his case has been assigned to prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel, who usually handles capital murder my trials. Streiff and others see this as a politically motivated pairing.
He jokingly refers to Tarrant County as “Tyrant County” and worries that free speech is being increasingly restricted in Texas.
In May of 2025, the Texas Senate approved a bill that would restrict pro-Palestinian activism on campus. The author of the bill, Senator Brandon Creighton said “he wants to prevent disruption and unsafe behavior.” The bill is currently being sued by Texas Student Groups.
This is part of a nationwide crackdown on free speech on college campuses in regards to criticism of Israel. For example, Columbia University implemented fencing around the campus quad and introduced a color-coded system to regulate campus access based on protest risk levels. President Minouche Shafik resigned amid criticism of her handling of the protests. The University of Pennsylvania prohibited camping and banned speech advocating violence, despite such speech being constitutionally protected. As a private institution, UPenn is not bound by the First Amendment but claims to uphold free speech values.
As mentioned above, Texas Representative of District 24, which includes Tarrant County, Beth Van Duyne has received close to $135 thousand dollars from AIPAC.
Texas has a complicated history with hate-crime legislation. For example, in 2019, the assault of transgender woman Muhlaysia Booker in Dallas did not qualify as a hate crime because gender identity is not a protected category. Her attacker, Edward Thomas, was only convicted of misdemeanour assault and served 300 days. Another individual later murdered Booker.
Alison Grinter Allen, attorney for 23-year-old activist Afsheen Khan—also facing potential hate-crime charges over graffiti—believes politics drive these prosecutions. She suggests the county’s approach is designed to appease political powers with controversial stances on international affairs.
At the state level, Texas legislators recently passed a bill mandating that schools and universities adopt a definition of antisemitism that includes some criticism of Israel. Some Jewish community members opposed the law, arguing it failed to address broader religious discrimination.
“I have so much love and compassion for people, and that’s the main reason why I’m so outspoken. That’s why I’m an activist: because I care so much about people, and I care so much about injustice. So the people around me, they support me. And I guess they just want to se e me get through this.”
Mohammad Khan is an activist in Dallas, Texas. He has a BA in History and is passionate about social justice.
