Hesham A. Ayyad lied about anti-Palestinian hate crime: cops

An Ohio man has been arrested for allegedly lying to police about being the victim of an anti-Palestinian hate crime.

Hesham A. Ayyad, 20, told the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations that a driver had hurled anti-Palestinian slurs at him and hit him with his car, according to an Oct. 23. CAIR press release demanding an investigation into the incident.

North Ridgefield police arrested Ayyad on Tuesday and said he lied about the encounter and that his injuries had come from a fight with his brother, Cleveland.com reported.

Ayyad told CAIR officials that he was walking home from eating lunch near the border of Olmsted Falls and North Ridgeville around 4:10 p.m. when a vehicle slowed down beside him and the driver yelled statements like “Kill all Palestinians,”and “Long live Israel,” at him, according to the press release from CAIR.

“The driver then allegedly turned around and hit the man while shouting ‘DIE!’” CAIR wrote. 

The release included a photo of Ayyad lying in a hospital bed while wearing a neck brace.

“We hope the North Ridgeville Police Department and the FBI will collect all the information they need to charge this individual with a hate crime,” Faten Odeh, CAIR-Ohio, Cleveland Interim Executive Director, said at the time.

Ayyad told responding police officers he “had been struck by a vehicle and that the incident was racially motivated,” North Ridgeville police told Cleveland.com in a statement. He was taken to a hospital, cops said.

Investigators reviewed video footage from the area and concluded that Ayyad had lied about being hit by the vehicle and lied about the racial slurs, police said.

Police said the “injuries sustained at the time of the incident were caused by a violent fight that the alleged victim had participated in with his brother, which was confirmed by area video surveillance.”

Ayyad was taken into custody on Tuesday and charged with making false alarms, falsification, obstructing official business, domestic violence and assault, according to Cleveland.com.

The Post has reached out to CAIR-Cleveland for comment on the arrest.

Ayyad’s 19-year-old brother, Khalil A. Ayyad, was also arrested and charged with domestic violence and assault, cops said. The brothers are being held at the Lorain County Jail.

An Islamic Council spokesperson told the outlet they “do not yet know anything more about the nature of the charges,” the statement said.

“Our understanding is that the brothers have secured their own legal counsel,” the spokesperson said.

The incident is reminiscent of Jussie Smollett’s hoax case, in which the actor was found guilty of staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself and lying to Chicago police about it.