Photo above posted by a Twitter account linked to Dmitri Mishin shows the Schneerson Center shooting suspect wearing a Nazi uniform.
Lee Heidhues 2.8.2023
Folks just don’t want to believe there are Nazis lurking in the streets of San Francisco.
Shocking as it may seem and impossible to comprehend, these despicable people can be found in my quiet Outer Richmond District neighborhood close by the Pacific Ocean.
Nazis are depraved and dangerous people who need to be stamped out and obliterated.
This horrific story was first picked up by the Northern California Jewish Weekly and is now making its way into the mainstream media.
The Standard 2.8.2023
A man who appears to have posted Nazi imagery on social media before firing blanks from a pistol in a San Francisco synagogue will face allegations that he committed a hate crime, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Dmitri Mishin, 51, was arrested following a bizarre chain of events that peaked Feb. 1 when he allegedly fired the fake gunshots at a gathering of worshippers inside the Richmond District’s Schneerson Center.
On Wednesday, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins decided to file numerous charges against him including hate crime allegations and counts of making threats, obstructing a religious meeting and brandishing a replica firearm.
“This is another deplorable example where our Jewish community has been targeted for who they are and what they believe,” Jenkins said in a statement. “There is no doubt that antisemitism is real and we must stand with our Jewish community against it.”
The startling incident rattled a close-knit community in the Richmond District that includes many Russian-speaking immigrant elders. But religious leaders weren’t sure what to make of it until social media posts emerged showing the gunman may have harbored antisemitic views—and even dressed like a Nazi.
“I’m happy this person is getting the charges he deserves,” said rabbi Alon Chanukov, “and I hope that he’s put away for a very long time and that the community can unify against this behavior.”
The shooting has raised security concerns for the Schneerson Center, a storefront synagogue located on a largely residential section of Balboa Street.
Police have placed a patrol car outside the building on Shabbat, the weekly Sabbath when there are more worshippers, Chanukov told The Standard a day before the charges were announced. But it’s unclear how long that will last.
“The big synagogues already have the guards; they have the funding, everything,” he said.
Mishin is expected to be arraigned Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
Lee's Perspective 