Newly released video offers a fuller picture of the alleged road rage incident involving U.S. Rep. Max Miller and an Ohio doctor.
Prosecutors and police say highway surveillance footage shows Dr. Feras Hamdan veering into Miller’s lane. But Hamdan’s attorneys argue the video shows the opposite.
Miller, who is Jewish, alleged in June that Hamdan threatened to kill him and tried to run him off the road.
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A newly released cellphone video — recorded by Hamdan himself — shows him yelling at the congressman while using homophobic and antisemitic slurs.
“This is the congressman. That piece of s*** f**** congressman that's against Palestine,” Hamdan says while driving in the lane next to Miller.
He continues, “This racist, Jewish, he can't even look at me. He knows I'm recording him.”
The footage is part of a trove of documents released after Cleveland.com filed a public records request. The release includes the 911 call, police interview with Miller, police reports, search warrants, and dozens of videos — including Tesla security footage of Hamdan entering the vehicle prior to the incident.
In the 911 report, the dispatcher noted hearing honking and commotion and recalled Miller saying Hamdan was making threats toward his family and calling him a “dirty Jew.”
Miller later gave a statement to police about the incident.
“Hey, I'm trying to ignore him. Then all of a sudden, he goes this with his vehicle a little bit, and it jars me, and it does. I'm not gonna lie, I got a little scared," Miller said. "He put his cell phone towards the window, and was a Palestinian flag. And I said, OK, well now I'm figuring this out pretty quick. So windows are down, and he's just screaming at me at the top of his lungs, saying that he wants to kill me, and he knows who I am, and he knows where I live.”
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Hamdan has been indicted on one count of ethnic intimidation, one count of tampering with evidence, one count of aggravated menacing and one count of menacing.
But Hamdan’s attorney paints a different picture, telling Scripps News that the video simply shows Hamdan recognizing the congressman and having a passionate disagreement over policy.
Attorney Issa Elkhatib told Scripps News that Hamdan wishes he hadn’t been so harsh, but isn’t sorry for opposing Miller’s views. He also dismissed the allegations, claiming Miller has proven to be a liar, who is weaponizing the system for political points.
