Editor’s note: This story, which was originally published June 13 at 11:06 a.m. was updated June 13 at 11:36 a.m. to correct the address for the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.
A Germantown man was charged with assault following an altercation Thursday afternoon with off-duty police officers serving as security at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, according to a Thursday night statement from Montgomery County police.
Joseph Amr Khairy Abdalla, 38, of Germantown was charged with multiple counts of assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to police. Abdalla is being held in the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit in Rockville while awaiting a bond hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday in Montgomery County District Court. Abdalla does not have an attorney listed as of Friday morning, according to online court records.
At roughly 2:54 p.m., police said off-duty officers assigned to security for the Rockville school on the 1900 block of East Jefferson Street saw a vehicle allegedly driven by Abdalla circling the school’s parking lot without a valid pass to pick up a student.
Abdalla was allegedly directed away from the school by the off-duty officers, then allegedly refused to stop when asked, drove through traffic cones in the student pick-up line and went into lanes with oncoming cars, the police statement said.
After the vehicle stopped, Abdalla allegedly wouldn’t get out of the car, identify himself or state his purpose at the school. The off-duty officers tried to remove Abdalla from the vehicle, but he allegedly became combative and resisted officers’ attempts to put him in custody.
During the struggle, a pocketknife fell out of Abdalla’s possession, according to the statement.
Guila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said in a Friday statement that video of the incident shows Abdalla making anti-Jewish and hateful comments and is a reminder that “Jewish families and institutions remain under near-constant threat.”
According to police, there’s no evidence as of Friday morning that Abdalla had intended to hurt anyone associated with the school. A Friday statement from County Executive Marc Elrich said county police aren’t classifying the case as a hate crime as of Friday.
Officers were eventually able to subdue Abdalla and take him into custody, but the two off-duty officers suffered minor injuries and were treated on scene.
“The actions of these officers shows our heightened efforts to protect our community and the courage of officers to take decisive action for the safety of all,” county police Chief Marc Yamada said in the police statement.
The Jewish day school was able to hire additional onsite security with the help of grant funding for institutions at risk of attacks, Siegel said.
“It also demonstrates the importance of state and local governments continuing to make security dollars available to nonprofit institutions that are at risk of attacks,” Siegel said. “That investment can and does save lives.”
Elrich said Montgomery County was committed to protecting all residents and that the incident would heighten fears and concerns of the Jewish community following the recent shooting that killed two outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C.
“The rise in antisemitic violence across the country is alarming. These threats are real, and people here feel them every day,” Elrich said in his Friday statement.
Elrich encouraged reporting behavior or interactions that seemed suspicious to 911.
