Five people have been left injured after a knifeman attacked a Hanukkah celebration in a rabbi’s
New York home late on Saturday evening.
The attack appeared to be the latest in a string targeting Jews in the region, including a massacre at a kosher grocery store in New Jersey earlier this month.
Police said the stabbings took place at approximately 10pm in Monsey, which lies north of
New York City and is one of several Hudson Valley towns home to growing communities of Hasidic Jews.
Ramapo
police chief Brad Weidel said hours later that New York City police had found a vehicle and a potential suspect being sought in connection with the attack.
New York City Police would not immediately confirm whether anyone was in custody.
Top state officials, including governor Andrew Cuomo and attorney general Letitia James, have released statements condemning the attack.
A number of photos and videos from the scene were posted on
Twitter in the wake of the incident, showing a huge emergency services presence and paramedics running with stretchers. Video from the scene of the stabbings at a synagogue in Monsey where Chassidim were gathered for a Hanukkah celebration. pic.twitter.com/wQhWp9SrdA— Motti Seligson (@mottiseligson) December 29, 2019Developing story: Reports of a stabbing attack at a synagogue in Monsey, Rockland County, New York. The town has a large Orthodox Jewish community. Footage recorded at the scene and shared on
WhatsApp by people in the community: pic.twitter.com/mOylEp0XQ0— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) December 29, 2019The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey said it was also aware of the reports and was at the scene in Monsey.
The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council for the Hudson Valley region tweeted reports that the stabbings took place at the house of a Hasidic rabbi while they were celebrating Hanukkah.At 9:50 this eve, a call came in about a mass stabbing at 47 Forshay Road in Monsey (Rockland County; 30 miles North of NYC). It's the house of a Hasidic Rabbi. 5 patients with stab wounds, all Hasidic, were transported to local hospitals.— OJPAC Hudson Valley (@OJPACHV) December 29, 2019Several state and local officials described the location of the stabbing as a synagogue. The rabbi’s home is next door to a synagogue.
Saturday was the seventh out of eight nights of Hanukkah.
Governor Cuomo, who called the stabbings a “cowardly act”, has directed the state police hate crimes task force to investigate the 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,” he said.
“In New York we will always stand up and say with one voice to anyone who wishes to divide and spread fear: you do not represent New York and your actions will not go unpunished.”
Police chief Weidel said the five people were taken to hospital for treatment, but it is not yet known how seriously they have been injured.
Authorities have not provided a motive for the attack.
The incident happened a month after a man needed surgery after being stabbed while walking to a synagogue in Monsey.
Jewish communities in the New York City metro area have been troubled following a deadly gun rampage at a northern New Jersey kosher market on December 10.
Six people died in the
shooting, including the two killers, a police officer and three people who had been inside the store. New Jersey attorney general Gurbir Grewal said the attack was driven by hatred of Jews and law enforcement.
Around New York City, police have received at least six reports this week – and eight since December 13 – of attacks possibly prompted by anti-Jewish sentiment.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday that the police presence would be increased in Brooklyn neighbourhoods with large Jewish populations.Related... I Witnessed The
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