A man accused of scrawling “F*** the Jews” and other antisemitic and homophobic messages on a San Francisco church was in custody on Thursday after city prosecutors charged him with multiple hate crimes.
The San Francisco district attorney’s office charged Sadat Mousa, 51, with two counts of felony vandalism with hate crime enhancements; two counts of felony vandalism of a place of worship with hate crime enhancements; one count of felony placement of a swastika; and one count of misdemeanor vandalism, according to a press release from the DA’s office.
“This is one of the more disturbing incidents that I have seen,” DA Brooke Jenkins said at a press conference Wednesday.
Mousa was scheduled for arraignment Thursday afternoon but a judge “declared a doubt as to his competency to stand trial,” the DA’s office told J. in a statement. Mousa’s next court date was scheduled for March 12 when an expert would be appointed for a psychological evaluation, the statement said.
Around 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 28, according to the DA press release, Mousa used gold spray-paint and markers to draw antisemitic and homophobic messages on the facade of the Central Seventh Day Adventist Church. The messages said “F*** the Jews God” and “Hamas” and included anti-gay slurs, according to officials. The church is located on California near Broderick streets in Lower Pacific Heights.
Mousa also allegedly wrote “Hitler Hero” on the church and scrawled “similar antisemitic and homophobic messages” on a nearby mailbox, utility box and parking meter, the press release read.
Jenkins said prosecutors are asking the court to detain Mousa without bail pretrial, citing a public safety risk. She said police conducted a search of his home and reviewed his online conduct.
J. obtained a copy of a detention motion prepared by the DA’s office that included additional antisemitic and homophobic statements found on the mailbox, including “Kill Jews and F***s” (a homophobic slur).
Jenkins said the suspect’s online communications about the Jewish and LGBTQ communities were concerning.
“Prior language that he uses through social media and other means really gives us pause as to what level of danger he poses to both of these communities,” she said.
The DA’s motion cited several statements made by Mousa in social media videos, including that Jews and gay people are “not real or normal human beings. Those are the real devils on planet Earth.” In at least a couple of other examples, Mousa’s statements appear to target residents in Pacific Heights specifically, calling them “European colonizers.” Another video shows “Mr. Mousa making a beheading gesture,” the DA’s office said.
According to the detention motion, in 2009 police responded to an incident at his family home, where he allegedly threatened members of his family.
This was also not the first time Mousa targeted a property in Pacific Heights, according to prosecutors.
In June 2025, Mousa walked into a convenience store in the neighborhood and announced he intended to “go to a synagogue and shoot all the Jews and then shoot all the gays in San Francisco,” according to the detention motion.
At the press conference, Jenkins spoke to heightened public safety concerns since Israel’s conflict with Iran broke out on Feb. 28, the same day the graffiti was reported. Secure Community Network, an organization that monitors threats to Jewish communities in North America, reported a 95% increase in “violent online posts targeting the Jewish community globally” since the military conflict began, according to an SCN press release sent to journalists Thursday.
“We have to take these types of situations much more seriously … given the heightened emotions of what is going on abroad,” Jenkins said. “When we have incidents of hate in San Francisco that are criminal, we will react immediately to make sure that appropriate charges are filed. We will seek detention when we believe that somebody is a true risk to these communities.”