A judge Thursday released to home detention a Pittsburgh man accused of attacking a University of Pittsburgh student because he was Jewish.
The decision followed testimony over two days this week during which the government sought to keep Muhammed Koc in jail before trial, alleging he was both a flight risk and a danger to the community.
Koc, 27, will be released to the custody of his uncle and held under electronic monitoring with strict conditions, including a requirement that he only leave for work, medical or court appointments and religious services.
Additionally, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly ordered Koc to stay away from any Jewish-owned or identifiable business, school or entity.
In making her ruling, the judge concluded, “It is a very close call.”
Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh moved to detain Koc after he was charged with two crimes — violating the U.S. Hate Crime Act and conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice.
Five others are also charged in the indictment. The government moved to hold only Koc in custody.
An indictment unsealed Monday alleges Koc and other men had a confrontation with a Jewish Pitt student on Sept. 27, 2024.
According to the document, the alleged victim walked past Koc and his friends around 2 a.m. that day at the intersection of Semple and Ward streets, when the men called out to him with slurs about Israel.
The group argued for a few minutes, the indictment said, with the defendants saying things like, “I hate Jews, and I hate Israel.”
Then, at 2:05 a.m., the indictment said, Koc punched the man in his face, and another defendant, Omar Alshmari, struck him as well.
A bystander then stepped in, and the assault ended, police said.
The Pitt student sustained a split lip and has suffered headaches, the prosecution said.
Koc, Alshmari and four other men are also accused of conspiring to obstruct the federal grand jury proceedings by colluding in their testimony during the investigation.
Other fights
During testimony on Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carl J. Spindler presented evidence that Koc had been involved in at least two other incidents of fighting in recent years, was facing charges in Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court for fleeing from a traffic stop and was the subject of a restraining order after an ex-girlfriend reported to police that she believed he placed a tracking device on her vehicle.
FBI Special Agent Abigail Patcher testified that investigators found evidence in SnapChat videos that Koc was involved in another fight the day after the Oakland incident on the steps of St. Mary of the Mount Church on Grandview Avenue on Mt. Washington.
The videos, played in court, showed Koc striking an unidentified person and kicking at him.
A third incident, which prosecutors said occurred on Feb. 21, 2025, showed Koc, with a bloodied face, talking in a cell phone video about a fight he had just been involved in, and that his shoulder was dislocated.
As part of the prosecution’s case, Patcher said investigators also obtained a text message from Koc in which he said, “Yeah, I grew up fighting Jews since I was a kid. That’s how I know how to fight.”
However, on Thursday, a man who said he was with Koc the night he dislocated his shoulder said they were attacked and Koc was defending himself.
Wail Bichiba, who testified for the defense, said he and Koc were out on the North Shore and had just left a bar in February 2024 when Bichiba brushed up against a group of men walking in the opposite direction.
One of the men in that group made a comment, Bichiba turned around, and it turned into a fight, he said.
“(Koc) tried to grab me and pull me away from the situation,” Bichiba said. “One of them threw a punch, and basically, after that, it was an all-out brawl.”
Bichiba said Koc tried to throw one punch, threw out his shoulder, and then got beaten up.
Afterward, Koc made the video while sitting in the car and right before they drove to the hospital, the witness said.
“I think he was just trying to be cool, to act tough,” Bichiba told the judge. “You can tell how he looks we didn’t beat anybody up.”
A restraining order
The prosecution also presented evidence about a protection-from-abuse order obtained against Koc by a woman with whom he had a previous relationship.
Patcher testified that the woman told police Oct. 4 she found a tracking device glued behind the license plate of her car as she was driving in Lawrenceville.
Patcher said the woman reported seeing Koc’s distinctive white Mercedes AMG that night around the time she found the tracker.
Cell tower tracking data showed Koc’s phone pinged in the area of the woman’s home around 6 a.m. that day, Patcher said.
In the most recent incident, Patcher testified that Koc was arrested in Westmoreland County and charged with fleeing, escape, driving on a suspended license and reckless endangerment stemming from an incident around 2 a.m. on Jan. 3 in Rostraver.
A police officer attempted to pull Koc over, she said, and as the officer approached the Mercedes, Koc sped off, turned off his headlights and reached speeds of 100 mph.
All of that, the government said, justified keeping Koc in jail prior to trial.
Koc attacked the Pitt student because he was Jewish, Spindler said.
“The victim did nothing more than walk past Mr. Koc proudly displaying his Star of David necklace,” the prosecutor continued. “That is the definition of hate crime, and they’re so corrupting to our society.
“The community is the victim.”
Spindler also argued that Koc poses a threat to the community — both for his alleged actions on Sept. 27, 2024, and stemming from the other incidents.
“His conduct tells you he doesn’t care about the rule of law and won’t care about the orders of this court,” Spindler said.
‘Stop and grow up’
Defense attorney Martin Dietz countered that the prosecution failed to show that his client instigated any of the fights.
Koc has no prior criminal convictions, and after the restraining order was obtained against him, there were no violations, Dietz said.
He also argued that the prosecution failed to show the incident in Oakland was a hate crime.
Dietz said he’s spoken to witnesses in the case who said Koc punched the student because he kept calling him “dumb.”
“Who knows what the truth is?” Dietz said. “This entire case centers around the video, and the government chose not to show it.”
The judge said she also found that concerning.
“Not showing me the video impairs my ability to fully consider the weight of the evidence,” she said.
In analyzing the case, Kelly said she had to consider the nature of the alleged crime, the weight of the evidence against Koc, his personal character, the alleged danger to the community and whether he is a flight risk.
The judge noted that Koc is a long-standing member of the Pittsburgh community, is gainfully employed as a software engineer and has a supportive family.
Kelly then addressed the allegations of fighting and the restraining order.
“You’ve got to stop and grow up,” the judge said. “Your parents have worked very hard to care for you, and you’re behaving like an immature teenager getting in fights and being a hothead.”
As part of the conditions of release, Kelly ordered Koc to undergo a mental health evaluation and anger management classes.