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| Suspect faces attempted murder charges after 5 stabbed at rabbi’s home in New York, officials say | Suspect faces attempted murder charges after 5 stabbed at rabbi’s home in New York, officials say |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A man barged into a rabbi’s home with a long knife and stabbed five people Saturday night in New York state, officials and witnesses say, shattering Hanukkah celebrations and renewing fears of attacks on the country’s Jewish community. | A man barged into a rabbi’s home with a long knife and stabbed five people Saturday night in New York state, officials and witnesses say, shattering Hanukkah celebrations and renewing fears of attacks on the country’s Jewish community. |
| The suspect in custody, identified by police as 37-year-old Grafton E. Thomas of Greenwood Lake, N.Y., has pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary, according to the Associated Press. | |
| Officials have yet to announce a motive in the stabbing in Monsey, but state leaders were quick to call it domestic terrorism and to denounce anti-Semitic attacks in the wake of other violence against Jewish residents. | Officials have yet to announce a motive in the stabbing in Monsey, but state leaders were quick to call it domestic terrorism and to denounce anti-Semitic attacks in the wake of other violence against Jewish residents. |
| People who were at the scene of the assault, which occurred in a town about 30 miles north of New York City, told reporters of a weapon nearly the size of a broomstick and a perpetrator with his face obscured by a scarf who ran past the man answering the door, stabbed guests as people tried to fend him off and then fled. | People who were at the scene of the assault, which occurred in a town about 30 miles north of New York City, told reporters of a weapon nearly the size of a broomstick and a perpetrator with his face obscured by a scarf who ran past the man answering the door, stabbed guests as people tried to fend him off and then fled. |
| The victims, all Hasidic Jews, were taken to hospitals, according to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council in Hudson Valley, which said the stabbings occurred at the home of Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg just before 10 p.m. | The victims, all Hasidic Jews, were taken to hospitals, according to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council in Hudson Valley, which said the stabbings occurred at the home of Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg just before 10 p.m. |
| One victim remains in critical condition with wounds to the head, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said Sunday. Rottenberg’s son was among the victims but is recovering, Cuomo said. Police have not identified the others stabbed. | |
| The suspect was stopped in his vehicle and arrested by New York City police at about midnight in Harlem, then transferred to Ramapo, a town near Monsey where he will be arraigned Sunday morning, officials said. | The suspect was stopped in his vehicle and arrested by New York City police at about midnight in Harlem, then transferred to Ramapo, a town near Monsey where he will be arraigned Sunday morning, officials said. |
| Prosecutors said Thomas, whose bail was set at $5 million, was found with blood on his clothes and smelled of bleach, the Associated Press reported. The suspect did not answer questions as he walked out of the court midday Sunday. | |
| It was not immediately clear if he has a lawyer. | |
| Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said authorities tracked down the suspect thanks to “critical” information from someone who wrote down the vehicle’s license plate number and gave it to police. | Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said authorities tracked down the suspect thanks to “critical” information from someone who wrote down the vehicle’s license plate number and gave it to police. |
| The governor said the state police’s hate-crime task force will investigate. He also denounced the attack — the state’s 13th anti-Semitic incident in the past few weeks, Cuomo said — as “intolerance meets ignorance meets illegality.” | The governor said the state police’s hate-crime task force will investigate. He also denounced the attack — the state’s 13th anti-Semitic incident in the past few weeks, Cuomo said — as “intolerance meets ignorance meets illegality.” |
| “This is an intolerant time in this country,” he said Sunday. “We see anger, we see hatred exploding. It is an American cancer in the body politic.” | “This is an intolerant time in this country,” he said Sunday. “We see anger, we see hatred exploding. It is an American cancer in the body politic.” |
| New York City leaders said Friday that police would increase patrols in several neighborhoods in light of increasing anti-Semitic violence. Earlier this month, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said suspects in a shooting at a kosher deli in Jersey City “held views that reflected hatred of the Jewish people, as well as the hatred of law enforcement.” | New York City leaders said Friday that police would increase patrols in several neighborhoods in light of increasing anti-Semitic violence. Earlier this month, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said suspects in a shooting at a kosher deli in Jersey City “held views that reflected hatred of the Jewish people, as well as the hatred of law enforcement.” |
| “Let me be clear: anti-Semitism and bigotry of any kind are repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate,” Cuomo said in a statement. | “Let me be clear: anti-Semitism and bigotry of any kind are repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate,” Cuomo said in a statement. |
| On Sunday, he renewed calls for New York to become the first state in the country with a law on domestic terrorism. A proposal he advocated earlier this year would treat mass shootings motivated by attributes such as race and national origins as punishable by as much as life in prison without parole, similar to terrorist crimes. | On Sunday, he renewed calls for New York to become the first state in the country with a law on domestic terrorism. A proposal he advocated earlier this year would treat mass shootings motivated by attributes such as race and national origins as punishable by as much as life in prison without parole, similar to terrorist crimes. |
| Advocacy groups and local leaders joined the governor in calling for concrete steps to prevent more violence. Former New York Assembly member Dov Hikind said the state’s Jewish residents are “sick and tired” of tweets condemning anti-Semitism and want action. Appearing alongside Hikind, Yossi Gestetner — founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council — called for heightened security and publicizing the consequences of such attacks. | Advocacy groups and local leaders joined the governor in calling for concrete steps to prevent more violence. Former New York Assembly member Dov Hikind said the state’s Jewish residents are “sick and tired” of tweets condemning anti-Semitism and want action. Appearing alongside Hikind, Yossi Gestetner — founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council — called for heightened security and publicizing the consequences of such attacks. |
| “When will enough be enough?” the Anti-Defamation League echoed in a statement, saying that anti-Semitic incidents in the New York and New Jersey area over the past week make it “abundantly clear” that “the Jewish community needs greater protection.” | “When will enough be enough?” the Anti-Defamation League echoed in a statement, saying that anti-Semitic incidents in the New York and New Jersey area over the past week make it “abundantly clear” that “the Jewish community needs greater protection.” |
| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned Saturday’s attack in Monsey. | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned Saturday’s attack in Monsey. |
| The attack shook Rockland County, where almost one-third of the population is Jewish and where the Orthodox community has grown to thousands of families in recent years, according to Jewish groups. | The attack shook Rockland County, where almost one-third of the population is Jewish and where the Orthodox community has grown to thousands of families in recent years, according to Jewish groups. |
| Rockland County Executive Ed Day condemned the “heinous crime” and said in a statement, “Getting such a horrific call in the midst of a local holiday celebration is a stark reminder that even in a community as good and serene as ours, evil can visit us. Violence of any kind will not be tolerated here in Rockland.” | Rockland County Executive Ed Day condemned the “heinous crime” and said in a statement, “Getting such a horrific call in the midst of a local holiday celebration is a stark reminder that even in a community as good and serene as ours, evil can visit us. Violence of any kind will not be tolerated here in Rockland.” |
| Leaders across the state have expressed growing concern about anti-Semitism in the county, after a Rockland County Republican Party advertisement in August said legislator Aron Wieder — an Orthodox Jew — is “plotting a takeover” that threatens “our way of life.” The video overlaid the words “Our Families” on a photo of a white, non-Orthodox couple and their children posing on a front lawn. | Leaders across the state have expressed growing concern about anti-Semitism in the county, after a Rockland County Republican Party advertisement in August said legislator Aron Wieder — an Orthodox Jew — is “plotting a takeover” that threatens “our way of life.” The video overlaid the words “Our Families” on a photo of a white, non-Orthodox couple and their children posing on a front lawn. |
| The video was “the very definition of discrimination,” Cuomo said at the time. | The video was “the very definition of discrimination,” Cuomo said at the time. |
| Shayna Jacobs in New York and Marisa Iati and Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report. | Shayna Jacobs in New York and Marisa Iati and Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report. |