Attacker
stabs five at rabbi's home in New York
NEW YORK
(Reuters) - An attacker stabbed five people late on Saturday at a Hasidic
rabbi’s home in New York state and fled before apparently being arrested, a
Jewish organization said, a rampage that came after days of increased tension
over anti-Semitic assaults.
First
responders walk the area where 5 people were stabbed at a Hasidic rabbi's home
in Monsey, New York, U.S., December 29, 2019. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The
Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) said on Twitter an attacker
wearing a scarf stabbed the victims at a house in Monsey, Rockland County,
about 30 miles north of New York City.
All five
victims were taken to hospitals, the council said, adding that two of the
victims were critical, with one of them stabbed at least six times.
“The
suspect fled the scene, but he is in custody at this time,” the Ramapo Police
Department said in a Facebook post.
The police
department confirmed that five people were stabbed and said that the
investigation was going on. The department did not provide any more details.
An OJPAC
official, Yossi Gestetner, told the New York Times the attack happened at
around 10 p.m. during a Hanukkah celebration that was being attended by many
dozens of people at the rabbi’s home.
About a
third of the population of Rockland County is Jewish, including a large enclave
of Orthodox Jews who live in secluded communities.
New York
Attorney General Letitia James said she was “deeply disturbed” by the events in
Monsey.
“There is
zero tolerance for acts of hate of any kind and we will continue to monitor
this horrific situation,” she said in a Twitter post.
New York
City’s police department said on Friday its officers were stepping up patrols
in heavily Jewish neighborhoods following a spate of anti-Semitic attacks.
“Hate doesn’t
have a home in our city,” Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter, calling the
assaults attacks on all New Yorkers.
In more
deadly recent attacks, a gunman killed a female rabbi and wounded three people
during Sabbath services at Congregation Chabad in Poway, near San Diego, on the
last day of Passover in April 2019.
Six months
before that, a gunman killed 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue in
Pittsburgh in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.
The Jewish
holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the 2nd century B.C. victory of Judah Maccabee
and his followers in a revolt against armies of the Seleucid Empire.
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