Rabbi Meir Kahane, the controversial Kach representative to Israel’s Knesset, is a wanted man here.
Overland Park Municipal Judge Sheldon Crossette issued an arrest warrant for Kahane May 20 after he failed to appear at a hearing for a disorderly conduct charge stemming from a shoving incident with two men attending Kahane’s speech here last November 18.
In addition, one of the men, Mousa Shukair of Kansas City, has filed a civil suit seeking in excess of $10,000 damages for “assault, battery and outrageous conduct resulting in emotional distress” due to the incident.
If Kahane were to return to Kansas he could face a maximum of six months in jail and a $500 fine for the municipal misdemeanor. But according to Overland Park Assistant City Attorney Karen Arnold-Burger, Kahane faces the penalties only if served with the warrant, and it probably wouldn’t be served unless he returned to the state.
She added that the State of Kansas generally does not extradite for misdemeanor offenses, as Kahane is charged with.
When the warrant was issued, Kahane was enroute from Boston to Los Angeles, according to Steve Samson, a West Coast spokesman for Kach International. That day in Los Angeles, Kahane was served with papers for the civil suit.
Overland Park dropped the disorderly conduct charge against Shukair May 20, as it did earlier for Shukair’s cohort at the speech, Rezek Muslet.
Kahane has 30 days to respond. He has returned to Israel, according to a spokesperson at Jewish Idea here, his support movement.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
