On Wednesday evening, a man repeatedly spurred with his car the rear entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish movement headquarters in Brooklyn, Wednesday evening, without causing injuries. The episode took place around 8:45 p.m. at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood, and is now at the center of a hate crime investigation by NYPD. In the United States, hate crime is a separate legal qualification that is configured when a basic crime is aggravated if it is motivated by hatred towards a protected category.
According to the authorities and videos on social media, the man led a grey Honda Accord with New Jersey plate along the driveway of the building and hit several times a series of wooden doors, destroying at least two. The images show the car to reverse and accelerate again against the entrance while several people shout to stop. Immediately afterwards, the driver dropped from the vehicle and was arrested without resisting.
Police commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the man was stopped on the spot and that the car was controlled by the bombers, without the discovery of explosives. “There were no injuries”, he said, adding that security around the places of worship in the city was strengthened with additional patrols and anti-terrorism resources. At the press conference in front of the building were also Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Attorney General of the State of New York Letitia James.
Already on Thursday morning, the police announced that they had formalized charges of endangering and attempted aggression against Dan Sohail, 36 years old, resident in Carteret, New Jersey. All defendant leaders will be considered as aggravated by the hypothesis of hate crime, explained Detective Joseph Kenny’s head, pointing out that the affected building is clearly identified as a synagogue. Mayor Mamdani defined the episode “an intentional act” and reiterated that anti-Semitism “will not be tolerated in New York”.
On Wednesday evening thousands of faithful gathered at 770 Eastern Parkway to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the settlement of Menachem Mendel Schneerson as a guide to the Lubavitch movement. The headquarters of Crown Heights, built in the early 20th century in neo-Gothic style, is the symbolic and organizational center of the Chabad-Lubavitch, a network that counts over 5,000 centers in more than 100 countries, with offices also in Jerusalem and near Tel Aviv.
In parallel to the criminal investigation, investigators are evaluating the personal profile of the arrested man. People who know him, including the father and some rabbis, reported that in recent months he had attended synagogues and religious schools between New York and New Jersey, declaring he wanted to convert to Judaism or claiming he was already Jewish. According to sources of law enforcement, during the episode man appeared emotionally unstable. Inquirents are now trying to clarify whether the action has been motivated by religious hatred, severe psychological discomfort or a combination of the two elements.
Article Car against a synagogue in New York, arrested a man comes from IlNewyorkese.
