The man who fired two shotgun blasts outside Temple Israel in Albany on Thursday has been “impacted by events in the Middle East,” according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court.

That man, 28-year-old Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, of Schenectady, stood before a U.S. magistrate judge on Friday.

Alkhader is charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm and faces up to 15 years in prison.

He was born in Iraq but is a U.S. citizen, and according to court papers, allegedly fired the gun outside Temple Israel because of current events in the Middle East.

Hank Greenberg speaks for the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York. He’s also a lawyer, and a past president of Temple Israel, who refers to the synagogue scenario as a horrific terroristic act.

This case comes at a time of unprecedented rising antisemitism across the state and the country, a reality that Greenberg said cannot be dismissed, and why he believes the facts of this case will inevitably lead to more charges, he said.

Hear his thoughts by watching the video of Dan Levy’s story.