In the middle of a press conference Wednesday about his hate crime case, Tarrant County pro-Palestine activist Raunaq Alam was ordered to turn himself in for a new charge of aggravated perjury, his lawyer said.
Alam was arrested for spray painting “F*** Israel” on a church in Euless last year. Tarrant County prosecutors said the vandalism amounted to a hate crime, motivated by anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias. His defense team argued Alam was making a political statement against Israel’s war in Gaza, and criticism of Israel is not the same as hatred of Jews.
At his trial earlier this month, a jury found Alam guilty of felony criminal mischief but rejected the hate crime accusation, which could have carried up to 10 years in prison. Instead, he was sentenced to five years’ probation. Judge Brian Bolton added about six months in jail.
At the beginning of the press conference at a park in Arlington, Alam was out on bond, pending an appeal. Then, his lawyer Adwoa Asante interrupted, saying she just learned Alam had been indicted on a new charge and had to turn himself in within the hour.
"There’s a continued targeting of him,” Asante told KERA News.
In Alam's indictment, prosecutors say he lied on the stand during his trial when he said he had never used drugs. KERA News has reached out to the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
Tarrant County prosecutor Lloyd Whelchel called Alam a “punk who committed perjury” during his sentencing on Sept. 12. On the stand, Alam denied violating his bond while he awaited trial, but Whelchel said Alam had talked with friends about buying, selling and using drugs.
Alam is also facing a drug possession charge for less than one gram of mushrooms, which were allegedly found in his car during a police search his attorney contends was unlawful.
Minutes before he learned he had to go back into custody, Alam encouraged people to not let the government intimidate them from speaking out.
“It has been clear from the beginning of this case that the state is trying to make an example of me, to oppress me and silence my voice,” he said. “However, we will never be silent. It is our duty as Americans and people of conscience to continue speaking out against war crimes and Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.”
Alam and his two codefendants, Afsheen Khan and Julia Venzor, were caught on security cameras vandalizing Uncommon Church in Euless, according to prosecutors, who say they targeted the church because it was flying an Israeli flag. Even strongly held convictions don’t justify vandalism, Whelchel argued during the trial.
Alam’s trial started Sept. 8. The church put up the flag out of solidarity following the Hamas-led attack that killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, Uncommon Church’s Lead Pastor Brad Carignan testified.
The Oct. 7 attacks set off the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. A growing number of organizations has concluded Israel is guilty of genocide, including a United Nations commission and the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Israeli leaders deny charges of genocide, saying Oct. 7 itself was a genocidal act, the Associated Press reports.
This story has been updated with information from Raunaq Alam's perjury indictment.
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