Politics

Hanukkah Stabbing Spree Suspect to Be Charged with Federal Hate Crimes

Authorities will be throwing the book at the antisemitic attacker.

December 30, 2019

Authorities have been sounding the alarm on the rise of antisemitism in America as of late, and the tragic events of this weekend served to drive that point home in a horrific way.

In Monsey, New York, during a Hanukkah celebration, a crazed men with a machete attacked Jewish revelers in an act that left several injured. Now, after an investigation turned up antisemitic writings in a journal at the home of the suspect, federal prosecutors are looking to throw the book at him.

Prosecutors filed federal hate crime charges on Monday against 37-year-old Grafton Thomas — the suspect accused of stabbing five people in a Hasidic rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, during a Hanukkah celebration this weekend, the New York Times reports.

Details: Authorities said they recovered journals with anti-Semitic entries they believe belong to Thomas that included references to Adolf Hitler, “Nazi culture” and drawings of a Star of David and a swastika.

The criminal complaint against Thomas said the FBI recovered a phone they believe belonged to the suspect that had online searches with phrases like “Why did Hitler hate the Jews” and “German Jewish Temples near me.”

The big picture: The attack was roughly the 13th anti-Semitic attack in the area in the past few weeks — as New Jersey Jewish communities are still reeling from a targeted attack on a kosher supermarket earlier this month.

The Anti Defamation League has described the recent spate of antisemitic attacks in and around New York City as an “epidemic”, while some lawmakers in Washington have attempted to blame Donald Trump for inciting the violence.

In this article:antisemitism, Featured, hanukkah, hate crime, new york

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