A Tarrant County jury found Raunaq Alam guilty of vandalizing a church in Euless, but they decided he did not commit a hate crime in doing so.
Alam was arrested for allegedly spray painting “F*** Israel” and putting pro-Palestinian stickers on a church in Euless. Prosecutors also added a hate crime enhancement, which the jury rejected. The jury will now decide his punishment.
The trial started Monday, bringing debate over hundreds of years of world history into a Tarrant County courtroom.
Alam’s attorney, Adwoa Asante, argued he is a pro-Palestinian activist who was condemning the actions of a foreign government, not attacking Jewish people. The church was flying an Israeli flag at the time of the vandalism.
"Raunaq is here because the government hates what he believes in," she said during her closing argument Thursday.
Tarrant County prosecutors made the case that Alam acted out of hatred for Israel and Jewish people, and that criticism of Israel is linked with antisemitism.
Alam's vandalism was not an act of civil disobedience, like Rosa Parks refusing to move from her bus seat, prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel said.
"This is terrorism — trying to stop people from having a different opinion," he said.
Both sides brought in opposing experts on modern Judaism, who disagreed on whether the vandalism was antisemitic.
Syracuse University professor Zachary Braiterman testified for the prosecution, saying it's possible to criticize Israel's government, but being against the country as a whole is antisemitic.
He was scared by one sticker, which had the Nazi flag placed above the Israeli flag, he said.
“This, to me, is a degree of verbal and ideational violence that makes me shudder and actually terrifies me,” he said.
The defense argued that sticker was comparing the actions of two governments that have committed genocide. Several groups have accused Israel of the crime in its ongoing war in Gaza. The Israeli government denies the charge.
Barry Trachtenberg, a professor of Jewish history at Wake Forest University, testified for the defense. He said he did not think the graffiti was antisemitic, and that the state's prosecution of Alam is racist.
"If Raunaq is found guilty of a hate crime, it means fundamentally that the state of Texas does not understand what antisemitism is," he told KERA News after court proceedings Wednesday. "It means that it has declared war on people who are protesting a genocide.
The war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023 killed 1,200 people, and militants took 251 people hostage. Since then, the war has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and the World Health Organization has confirmed Gaza is suffering a famine.
Around the U.S., the war has inspired student protests and government crackdown. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has opened an antisemitism investigation into Plano ISD for allegedly allowing pro-Palestine walkouts. The federal government has threatened some pro-Palestine university students with deportation.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org.
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