Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, of Schenectady, N.Y., was sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on Tuesday for illegally buying a gun, obstructing religious practice with a dangerous weapon and using a gun in a violent crime, the U.S. Justice Department stated.

Alkhader, who pleaded guilty in federal court in Albany in February, had faced between seven and 15 years in jail and up to $500,000 in fines.

He admitted to shooting a shotgun in the air outside Temple Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Albany, on Dec. 7, 2023, and shouting “free Palestine.”

Alkhader fired the shotgun twice and tried to do so again, but the gun jammed, according to the Justice Department. He then tried to tear an Israeli flag down from a pole in front of the synagogue, after

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