Ohio police said Friday they arrested a man who allegedly ran Jewish Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) off the road near Cleveland and brandished a Palestinian flag at the congressman on Thursday, after the suspect voluntarily turned himself in.
Police identified the man as Feras Hamdan, a 36-year-old West Lake, Ohio, resident. He surrendered himself to authorities after the Rocky River Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for aggravated menacing, according to multiple reports.
Miller denounced the man responsible for the road rage incident on social media, declaring in a separate post that “hate has no home” in his district. He has represented Ohio’s 7th Congressional District since 2023.
“The deranged hatred in this country has gotten out of control. Today I was run off the road in Rocky River, and the life of me and my family was threatened by a person who proceeded to show a Palestinian flag before taking off,” Miller said.
While he was driving alone during the incident, Miller told police Hamdan specifically threatened his and his 1-year-old daughter’s lives. Hamdan also allegedly shouted antisemitic slurs.
“I was just driving to work, and I was cut off by a man in a Tesla who held up a Palestinian flag to me, and then rolled down his window and said that ‘I’m going to cut your throat and your daughter’s,’” Miller said on an emergency 911 call, according to the Rocky River Police Department. “And he said, ‘You’re a dirty Jew. I’m going to f***ing kill you all, and I know who you are and where you live.’”
The Jewish congressman vowed the perpetrator would “face justice,” saying he filed a police report after the incident.
The investigation was led by the U.S. Capitol Police, Ohio State Patrol, the FBI, the Rocky River prosecutor’s office, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
“As a Marine, a proud Jewish American, and a staunch defender of Israel, I will not hide in the face of this blatant antisemitic violence,” Miller concluded.
The politically motivated incident drew bipartisan condemnation, including from House Democratic leadership and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
“This case is a prime example of the USCP’s stance toward threats against our elected officials,” Capitol Police said of Miller’s situation. “We will continue to have a zero-tolerance policy.”
Political violence has been on the rise in recent months, especially related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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Last month, a pair of Israeli Embassy employees were killed in Washington, D.C., by a man who shouted “free, free Palestine” over the war in Gaza.
Less than a week ago, Minnesota’s Democratic state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed by a gunman who impersonated a police officer. The same man allegedly shot Minnesota Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. Hoffman is in a critical yet stable condition, while his wife is in a stable condition. The suspect’s motivation for the shootings remains unclear.