A man faces hate crime charges after events that unfolded outside a North Miami Beach Jewish school earlier this month. Last Monday, May 5, at Yeshiva Toras Chaim Toras Emes, 24-year-old Jose Alfredo Garrido supposedly harassed students. NBC Miami reports surveillance footage showed Garrido throwing an unidentified object towards the school's field where students were present.
Garrido later reappeared with a whip and, as captured on video, seemed to harass two students by attempting to grab one's kippah—a traditional Jewish head covering—off their head. He returned to the area carrying not just the whip but also a wooden stick, as described NBC Miami in their report.
According to CBS News Miami, the students managed to escape the confrontational situation, promptly reporting the incident to a school security guard. He then "stopped (and) turned his body towards both victims and appeared to take an aggressive stance continuing to harass both victims with the whip in his hands," the arrest report specified.
Due to a security guard's quick thinking and taking a photo of Garrido, police were able to identify him and arrest him at his home on NW 118 Street. During the arrest, officers discovered a small blue plastic baggie of suspected cocaine in his possession. Garrido is now charged with harassment or intimidation based on religion or ethnic heritage and possession of cocaine, with the bond set at $10,500.
