Alleged threats to U.S. Rep. Max Miller on I-90 result in charges in Rocky River

A Westlake man has been charged with misdemeanor aggravated menacing in Rocky River Municipal Court after allegedly being involved in a road rage incident with U.S. Rep. Max Miller, R-Rocky River. Police later identified Feras Hamdan, 36, of Westlake, as the suspect. He is a local doctor. Charged in Rocky River Municipal Court, Hamdan showed up with his attorney and voluntarily turned himself in at the Rocky River Police Department, according to Rocky River police. Online Rocky River Municipal Court access was closed to the public Friday afternoon, but Clerk Deborah Comery told Reuters that Hamdan was arraigned on charges of aggravated menacing and ethnic intimidation, pleaded not guilty and was being held on $500,000 bond.Reuters quoted Hamdan's attorney, Issa Elkhatib, as saying allegations against Hamdan were "baseless and outrageous" and that they "amount to defamatory attacks on his character and reputation" against a respected local doctor who had no prior criminal history. Elkhatib told Reuters he was confident "the truth will win and that Dr. Hamdan's good name will be fully vindicated." According to a news release from the Rocky River Police Department, Miller called 911 at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday to report he had been involved in an incident with another motorist on Interstate 90. MIller "reported he was driving on Interstate 90 when the suspect threatened him and his family along with making antisemitic slurs," Rocky River police said in the news release. The suspect was gone when police arrived. Officers interviewed Miller, who later publicly said that the suspect waved a Palestinian flag at him and yelled antisemitic slurs. Miller is Jewish. The Ohio Jewish Caucus — represented by state Reps. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna; Dani Isaacsohn, D-Cincinnati; Christine Cockley, D-Columbus; Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood; Karen Brownlee, D-Symmes Township; and state Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson — came to Miller's defense. "We are grateful to the Rocky River Police Department for its quick work in helping bring the suspect to justice in the antisemitic, anti-Israel attack against Congressman Max Miller. Our thoughts are with Congressman Miller and his entire family during this troubling time, and we pray for their safety," the Ohio Jewish Caucus said in a news release. "The ongoing political violence in our country isn't just dangerous — it's un-American. The attack on Congressman Miller comes just days after former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in a politically motivated shooting that also left Minnesota Senator John Hoffman and his wife gravely wounded by the same suspect," the Ohio Jewish Caucus said. "Enough is enough. There is no place for this type of violence — whether it be political, antisemitic, or ideological — whatsoever. We believe we can solve our differences with humility, not hatred," the Ohio Jewish Caucus said. The incident on Interstate 90 remains under investigation by Rocky River police, the Rocky River Prosecutor's Office, the State Highway Patrol, the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Miller is in his second term in Congress. He has clashed with other Congress members about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before, including in 2023 when he criticized Palestinian-American U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, for having a Palestinian flag outside her office. In remarks on the Fox News show "The Ingraham Angle" in October 2023, Miller said Palestine would be destroyed. "I don't even want to call it the Palestinian flag because they're not a state, they're a territory, that's about to probably get eviscerated and go away here shortly, as we're going to turn that into a parking lot," Miller said. Miller was married to U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno's daughter Emily for two years. Deb Boros, a former Lorain County Domestic Relations/Juvenile Court judge, was the visiting judge who signed off on the couple's divorce settlement earlier this month, according to media reports. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.