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Suspect faces attempted murder charges after 5 stabbed at rabbi’s home in New York, officials say Knife-wielding man swung at ‘everyone he could’ at rabbi’s New York home, witness says
(about 3 hours 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. MONSEY, N.Y. — 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.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, about 30 miles northeast of Manhattan, 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. A candle-lighting ceremony for the seventh day of Hanukkah was finishing up at the home of Orthodox Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg when the attack began about 10 p.m., people who fled the festivities said. People were slowly filtering into the synagogue next door for a holiday meal.
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. A security official briefed on the case said witnesses told law enforcement the attacker entered the rabbi’s house and closed the door behind him before saying, “Nobody going anywhere,” then started to stab and slice at people seemingly at random, leaving one victim with wounds to the head, neck, back and arm.
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. Dozens were still inside when the attacker came in swinging what looked like a long sword at “everyone he could,” said Yisroel Kraus, a 26-year-old teacher who ran out the back of the home.
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. “If he had come 10 minutes earlier, the place would have been packed,” he said. “No way to move; no way to run. It was a miracle. It was a Hanukkah miracle.”
After a rampage that lasted less than two minutes, the assailant tried unsuccessfully to enter the synagogue next door — where congregants who heard the commotion had locked the door, said Yossi Gestetner, a co-founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council who spoke with people on the scene Saturday night.
Before the suspect fled in a car, police said, a witness wrote down the license plate number that would allow authorities to apprehend him within hours in Harlem. He was then transferred to Ramapo, a town near Monsey where he was 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.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. His lawyer did not immediately respond to inquiries Sunday afternoon.
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. Thomas has been arrested at least seven times since 2001, on offenses that include assault, resisting arrest, killing or injuring a police animal, driving while under the influence, possessing controlled substances and menacing a police or peace officer, said the security official.
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 victims, all Hasidic Jews, were taken to hospitals, according to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council in Hudson Valley. One victim remains in critical condition with wounds to the head, officials said Sunday. Police have not identified those injured, but officials said Rottenberg’s son is recovering from his wounds.
“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.” The stabbing in Monsey followed other attacks that have stoked fears among Jewish residents in the area. 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.” As news of the latest attack spread, advocacy groups and local leaders called 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, Gestetner called for heightened security and publicizing the consequences of such attacks.
“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.
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. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said the state police’s hate crime task force will investigate, denouncing what he called the state’s 13th anti-Semitic incident in a few weeks 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.”
Cuomo on Sunday renewed his 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 terrorism crimes.
Democratic presidential candidates also tweeted concerns about a rise in hateful attacks on Jews, and President Trump on Sunday afternoon called anti-Semitism an “evil scourge” that we “must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, too, condemned Saturday’s attack in Monsey.
Some Democrats urge Trump to more strongly condemn anti-Semitism in wake of Monsey attack
In the town Sunday, there was mourning, singing and dancing at a procession of more than 100 Hasidic Jews ending at the crime scene. Marchers, led by five law enforcement vehicles, ranged from young to old.
Rabbi Yossi Fried, 34, shepherded a group of schoolchildren, who each held up oil torches.
His message for the day: “It has been tough, but in the Jewish religion, we are always taught that there is light, even amongst the darkness, especially with the children.”
“That is the message we give no matter what,” he said.
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. Knowles and Mettler reported from Washington, Mekhennet from Quiberon, France. Shayna Jacobs in New York and Marisa Iati and Alice Crites in Washington contributed to this report.