A man who was arrested in Santa Monica Wednesday for siccing his dog on a Jewish couple while yelling “genocidal” has not been charged with hate crimes, sparking fears that this will make it harder to fight antisemitism in the United States, echoing a similar incident in France.

In April, an appeals court in Versailles ruled that an Algerian nanny convicted of attempting to poison the family she worked for in Nanterre, France, was not guilty of a hate crime despite telling police that Jews have too much power. The court ruled that the statement itself is not antisemitic, raising the concern that it would now become next to impossible to fight antisemitism in France.

Critics argue that the United States is following suit.

The Santa Monica Police Department defended its decision not to pursue hate crime charges Thursday.

“The fact that the filed charges do not include a hate crime enhancement does not mean the reported language or conduct was acceptable, nor does it diminish the impact on the victims or the broader community,” it said in a statement.

“Criminal threats remain a serious charge and reflect the threatening conduct reported during the incident,” the statement added.

“Hate has no place in Santa Monica,” Chief Darrick Jacob was cited in the statement as saying. “We understand the fear and harm these incidents can create, not only for the victims, but for the broader community. Our responsibility is to respond quickly, document the facts thoroughly, and pursue accountability through the legal process.”

In an interview with a Jewish news outlet, Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center called the decision to withhold hate crime charges “unbelievable.”

“When someone attacks innocent Jewish pedestrians while screaming Israel-related collective-guilt accusations, that is not just ‘political speech,’” he said. “It is evidence of motive.”

“The bat, the chase, the threats and the dog are the crime,” he told JNS. “The words explain why he picked them as his target.”

According to video footage, the 49-year-old suspect, who was identified as Nay Min Tar of Illinois, shouted threats at pedestrians, chased people with a baseball bat and eventually released his dog, a large black Italian mastiff, which bit one person on the thigh. Police arrived at the scene, apprehended the suspect, who was found a short distance away, and treated the victim for the minor bite wound, which required no further medical attention.