US Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) says in a video posted to social media that a pro-Palestinian activist ran him off the road. Photo: Screenshot

Police in Ohio said on Friday that they arrested and charged a man for allegedly running US Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) off the road before waving a Palestinian flag, yelling antisemitic slurs, and threatening the lawmaker and his family before fleeing.

Feras Hamdan, 36, of Westlake, Ohio, was arraigned on Friday and charged with aggravated menacing and ethnic intimidation, according to the Rocky River Police Department in Ohio and the Rocky River Municipal Court clerk. Hamdan, a medical doctor, could face up to five months in jail. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on a $500,000 bond.

Miller, who is Jewish, posted a video on X/Twitter on Friday morning saying that while driving to work, an anti-Israel activist forced his car off the road to show him a Palestinian flag and called for the destruction of the Jewish state. Miller added that the assailant threatened the lives of himself and his family. 

“This morning, as I was driving to work, some unhinged, deranged man decided to lay on his horn and run me off the road when he couldn’t get my attention. Not to mention, ‘death to Israel,’ ‘death to me,’ that he wanted to kill me and my family,” Miller said. 

The representative added that he obtained the identity of the suspect and would be pursuing legal action against him. 

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. I have filed a police report with Capitol Police and… pic.twitter.com/H6JnupcRIA

— Max Miller (@MaxMillerOH) June 19, 2025

Hamdan’s attorney, Issa Elkhatib, reportedly said in a statement that the allegations against Hamdan were “baseless and outrageous,” arguing that he was a respected doctor with no prior criminal history.

Miller, who represents the 7th Congressional District of Ohio, has positioned himself as one of Congress’s most outspoken pro‑Israel advocates. Since taking office in January 2023, he has sponsored multiple resolutions in support of Israel, including a July 2023 measure declaring it “not a racist or apartheid state.” He also co‑sponsored the Antisemitism Awareness Act, aligning US education policy with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.

Miller has also been a vocal supporter of substantial US aid to Israel, backing the $26 billion supplemental package in 2024 that he helped guide through the House, and has denounced any Republican measures that tied Israel aid to US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cuts as “disgusting.” His stance extends to public commentary, where he has condemned Palestinian flag displays by Democrats and framed constraints on Israel’s military response to Iran and its terrorist proxy network as misguided.

In the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, pro-Palestinian activists have engaged in a great deal of violence in Ohio. According to Anti‑Defamation League (ADL) reporting, the Buckeye State has experienced a near-quadrupling of antisemitic hate crime cases — from 61 in 2022 to 237 in 2023. Notable incidents include vandalism at Ohio State University‘s Hillel Center, swastika carvings on trees in New Albany, and reported assaults on Jewish students. These incidents have prompted new state legislation to define antisemitism under the IHRA framework and expand ethnic-intimidation charges.