The Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office has filed hate-crime charges against three people in connection with graffiti that included profanity — the phrase “(expletive) Israel” — spray-painted on a non-denominational church in Euless in 2024.

The three defendants — pro-Palestine protesters Raunaq Alam, Afsheen Khan and Julia Venzor — initially faced misdemeanor graffiti charges for damage under $750.

Prosecutors upgraded their cases, however, to third-degree felonies under Texas hate-crime law, with possible sentences of two to 10 years in prison for criminal mischief causing damage to a place of worship. Activists are speaking out about the defendants’ First Amendment rights and asking the DA’s Office to drop the hate-crime charges as the cases head to trial this month.

Alam’s trial is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 8, and Khan’s and Venzor’s trials are scheduled for Sept. 30, according to court records and a news release Thursday evening from the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The District Attorney’s Office told the Star-Telegram in an email Friday that, “We will enforce the law.”

The indictments allege that the defendants showed “bias or prejudice against a group identified by national origin and/or ancestry and/or religion, namely, the state of Israel or Jewish faith.”

Urging prosecutors to drop hate-crime charges 

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is urging Tarrant County prosecutors to drop the hate-crime charges filed against Alam and Khan, CAIR officials said in the news release.

“Texas condemns vandalism of religious sites, including the repeated desecration of mosques with Islamophobic graffiti. Such acts cause real harm to communities of faith. At the same time, applying hate-crime enhancements to graffiti that criticizes a foreign government misapplies the law,” CAIR officials said.

“Although we strongly condemn the vandalism of this church and believe that those responsible should be held accountable for this crime, Texas prosecutors are going beyond the law attempting to criminalize political speech by conflating criticism of the Israeli government with religious hatred,” said Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of CAIR-Texas DFW. “Our state’s hate crime laws were meant to protect vulnerable communities, not shield foreign governments from critique. We can and should condemn the vandalism of a house of worship without criminalizing speech.”

“Vandalizing a church property goes against the tenants of Islam; however, manipulating Texas’ hate crime laws to punish criticism of a foreign government will further erode public confidence in expressing their freedom of speech: a lose-lose for all Americans,” said Imran Ghani, director of operations of CAIR-Texas Houston, in the release.

Defense attorney Adwoa Asante told The Guardian that it is dubious to maintain Alam’s action constitutes a hate crime as Alam did not target a synagogue and the message did not single out a group protected under Texas’ hate-crime statute.

“Nowhere in the statute does it cite governmental entities such as states as part of protected persons or groups,” Asante said.

“If citizens and persons within the United States are allowed to say and express ‘(Expletive) America’, why would the condemnation of a foreign country garner more enhanced prosecution from the state of Texas?” the defense attorney asked.

Pro-Palestine activists face up to 10 years in prison

Alam, 32, has started a GoFundMe to cover his legal expenses. He said that he lost his job after police showed up to arrest him in March 2024.

“I’ve always spoken out in favor of people that are oppressed,” Alam told The Guardian. “It’s something that’s just truly embedded in my core. When I see people that are treated unfairly, I believe it’s my duty to use my voice for those people that don’t have a voice to speak or that don’t have a platform to speak.”

Khan, 23, also started GoFundMes to pay legal expenses for herself and Venzor, 26. “I am now currently facing up to a decade in prison in Tarrant County for political graffiti and speaking up against the genocide going on in (Palestine),” Khan wrote. “I have an upcoming trial for my case in which I must pay off some additional attorney fees and possibly a fine after the trial. Anything that is remaining, I swear to donate it to the children that are being systematically starved.