Hanukkah stabbing suspect has ‘history of mental illness’ and no ties to hate groups, family says
A man accused of knifing five people celebrating Hanukkah in New York has been charged with federal hate crimes, as the rampage marked the latest in a rash of anti-Semitic attacks.
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Federal prosecutors have filed hate crimes charges against Grafton Thomas, 38, who allegedly knifed celebrants who had gathered over the weekend at Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg’s Shul — leaving one in critical condition.
Thomas had burst into the Hasidic rabbi’s home and stabbed five Jewish people.
The charges came as police increased patrols in Jewish neighbourhoods across New York and New Jersey after a surge in hate crimes against Orthodox Jews.
It comes as the family of Thomas says he is “not a member of any hate groups” and that his mental illness is to blame for the bloody attack, according to a new report.
His lawyer Michael Sussman said that Thomas “has a long history of mental illness and hospitalisations”, reports the New York Post.
“He has no history of like violent acts and no convictions for any crime,” Sussman said in a statement obtained by The Times Herald-Record. “He has no known history of anti-Semitism and was raised in a home which embraced and respected all religions and races. He is not a member of any hate groups.”
The family has instructed Sussman “to seek immediate mental health evaluation of Grafton,” the statement continued.
“We believe the actions of which he is accused, if committed by him, tragically reflect profound mental illness for which, as noted above, Grafton has received episodic treatment before being released,” the lawyer added.
“Finally, we express our deepest concern and prayers for those injured physically and otherwise deeply affected by the events of Saturday night and our family’s earnest yearning for their well being,” the statement said. “We thank those who rendered medical attention to each of those injured.”
The statement echoes comments made over the weekend by Thomas’ pastor of 10 years, Reverend Wendy Paige of the Hudson Highlands Cooperative Parish.
“Grafton is not a terrorist, he is a man who has mental illness in America and the systems that be have not served him well,” Paige said.
Reverend Paige appeared to be responding to New York Governor Cuomo, who called the attack an “act of domestic terrorism.”
Thomas was found covered in blood and reeking of bleach by New York police in Harlem shortly after the attack. He’s pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary.
HANUKKAH TERROR
The victims were gathered to celebrate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, one of the holiest celebrations on the Jewish calendar.
They were taken to hospitals near the New York suburb of Monsey, 56km northeast of Manhattan, and two are in critical condition, the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) tweeted after receiving a call at 9:50pm local time (1.50pm AEDT).
Five patients with stab wounds, all Hasidic, were transported to local hospitals.
Local police departments declined to give the number of people injured to media.
CBS New York reported that Thomas brandished a machete and entered the rabbi’s property in Rockland County, and knifed people before fleeing.
“I was praying for my life,” said witness Aron Kohn, 65, according to the New York Times, comparing the knife used by the attacker to “the size of a broomstick”.
Kohn also threw chairs and tables in an attempt to head off the attacker, he told CNN.
Yossi Gestetner, a co-founder of the OJPAC for the Hudson Valley region, told the New York Times one of the victims was a son of the rabbi.
Mr Cuomo, said in a statement that he was “horrified” by the “despicable and cowardly act”, and had directed the State Police hate crimes task force to investigate.
“We have a zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in NY and we will hold the attacker accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he tweeted.
Mr Cuomo visited the rabbi’s home on Sunday morning local time and declared the attack an “act of domestic terrorism.”
“The house had many dozens of people in there,” Mr Gestetner said.
“It was a Hanukkah celebration.”
Rockland has the largest Jewish population per capita of any US county, with 31.4 per cent, or 90,000 Jewish residents.
RASH OF ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS GOES GLOBAL
The attack comes as police around the globe battle a rash of attacks against Jewish targets.
Four Jewish women were targeted in an assault in Brooklyn, New York this week.
Tiffany Harris, 30, of Flatbush allegedly slapped three women in the face and barked, “F- -k you, Jews!”
The victims, ages 22, 26 and 31, were not seriously injured.
There have been eight attacks in the city so far this week, all during Hanukkah, that are being investigated as anti-Semitic hate crimes, police said on Friday local time — a spree of harassment and misdemeanour assaults that the NYPD chief of detectives called “alarming.”
All but one of the attacks happened in Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods in Brooklyn, including the most recent one, when a man barrelled into the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights just before 7 a.m. on Friday local time.
The spate of hate began at East 41st Street in Manhattan Monday morning, hours after the first night of Hanukkah.
Steven Jorge, 28, of Miami allegedly shouted, “F- -k you, Jew bastard!” as he punched and kicked a 65-year-old Jewish man who was wearing a yarmulke.
That night, in the hipster section of Brooklyn known as Williamsburg, two Jewish boys were attacked by two teens who punched the younger boy in the stomach.
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Early on Tuesday, a group of people hurled anti-Semitic slurs at a 25-year-old Jewish man outside in Crown Heights. In the same area on Tuesday, a 56-year-old Jewish man was punched from behind by a group of people.
On Wednesday, a 40-year-old Jewish man was punched in the chin by a stranger.
On Thursday afternoon, Ayana Logan, 42, identified as homeless by police, allegedly approached a 34-year-old woman and her 3-year-old son yelling, “You f- -king Jew, the end is coming for you!” and hit the mum with her bag.
Last year a white supremacist walked into a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed 11 people — the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in the United States.
Earlier this month six people, including two suspects, were killed in a Jersey City shooting at a kosher deli, which authorities said was fuelled in part by anti-Semitism.
A report in April from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) stated that the number of anti-Semitic attacks in 2018 was close to the record of 2017, with 1879 incidents.
In response to the recent surge in hate-crimes in New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Friday that the NYPD was stepping up patrols in three neighbourhoods and increasing the number of visits to places of worship.
After Saturday’s attack, the mayor also tweeted that he has recently spoken to longtime Jewish friends who are fearful of outwardly showing their faith.
“We will NOT allow this to become the new normal,” he wrote. “We’ll use every tool we have to stop these attacks once and for all.”
But Mr de Blasio’s commitments have not yet eased fears of further persecution — either in the United States or around the world.
Last night, the 7th night of #Hanukkah, Jews attacked by a machete-wielding man who stabs 5.
— Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) December 29, 2019
The next morning, in the #UK? antisemitic graffiti found on stores and public places in Hampstead and Belsize Park.
This is what an #antisemitism epidemic looks like: pic.twitter.com/bRc6twoK0O
In Israel, President Reuven Rivlin expressed his “shock and outrage” over the attack.
“The rise of anti-Semitism is not just a Jewish problem, and certainly not just the State of Israel’s problem,” he said in a statement.
“We must work together to confront this evil, which is raising its head again and is a genuine threat around the world.”
In the US, Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the ADL, called for increased protection from the authorities for the Jewish community.
The New York Police Department said a suspect had been arrested in Harlem and had been turned over to authorities where the attack took place.
Grafton Thomas, of Greenwood Lake, NY, was arrested in Harlem less than two hours after storming into the basement of the rabbi’s house.
He has been arraigned on five counts of attempted murder and is being held on US $5 million bail.
The #MonseyStabbing attacker has been named as 37 year old Thomas Grafton of Greenwood Lake, NY. pic.twitter.com/ovNyq4Jaos
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) December 29, 2019
PHOTO of the perp in the #Monsey attack being arraigned in Town of Ramapo court. pic.twitter.com/9RnF9VsdrC
— OJPAC Hudson Valley Region (@OJPACHV) December 29, 2019
CNN, which first named the suspect, reports that Thomas’s license plate was captured by cameras while coming over the George Washington Bridge in his Nissan Sentra around 11:45pm (3.45pm AEDT) local time.
The accused attacker faces five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary, according to Police Chief Brad Weidel.
Top US politicians, including Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker commented on the Monsey attack, condemning it in no uncertain terms.
I’m sending my prayers to the families and the community affected by last night’s horrific attack on a rabbi’s home in Monsey.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) December 29, 2019
We must all stand shoulder to shoulder to fight anti-Semitism and demand that our elected leaders do the same.
The increasing frequency of anti-Semitic attacks is horrifying. We must all join to stop them in their tracks and root out the hatred and ignorance at their core. My heart is with the victims in Monsey, their families, and the entire Jewish community. https://t.co/VEctKaAzRf
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) December 29, 2019
I'm heartsick for the victims of this horrific attack. This is unfortunately just the latest of a series of anti-Semitic attacks in New York and New Jersey. We must fight anti-Semitism and make clear that hateful bigotry has no place in our society. https://t.co/MjlL1gkovV
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) December 29, 2019
I’m outraged by the knife attack in Monsey. We must confront this surge of anti-Semitic violence, prioritize the fight against bigotry, and bring people together – instead of dividing people up.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 29, 2019
The anti-Semitic attack in Monsey, New York, on the 7th night of Hanukkah last night is horrific. We must all come together to fight, confront, and eradicate the evil scourge of anti-Semitism. Melania and I wish the victims a quick and full recovery.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2019
In May Israeli researchers reported that violent attacks against Jews spiked significantly in 2018, with the largest reported number of Jews killed in anti-Semitic acts in decades, leading to an “increasing sense of emergency” among Jewish communities worldwide.
Capped by the deadly shooting that killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, assaults targeting Jews rose 13 per cent in 2018, according to Tel Aviv University researchers. They recorded nearly 400 cases worldwide, with more than a quarter of the major violent cases taking place in the United States.
But the spike was most dramatic in western Europe, where Jews have faced even greater danger and threats. In Germany, for instance, there was a 70 per cent increase in anti-Semitic violence.
“There is an increasing sense of emergency among Jews in many countries around the world,” said Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, an umbrella group representing Jewish communities across the continent.
“It is now clear that anti-Semitism is no longer limited to the far-left, far-right and radical Islamist’s triangle — it has become mainstream and often accepted by civil society,” he said.
Originally published as Hanukkah stabbing suspect has ‘history of mental illness’ and no ties to hate groups, family says