A driver was taken into custody after crashing his automotive into Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn on Wednesday evening, New York Metropolis police mentioned. There have been no accidents, however the incident is being investigated as a attainable hate crime, authorities mentioned.
The crash occurred simply earlier than 9 p.m. Jap Time on the constructing on Jap Parkway close to Washington Avenue. At a press convention, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch mentioned officers assigned to a element outdoors Chabad headquarters “heard a commotion within the constructing’s essential entrance.”
Tisch mentioned when the officers responded, they noticed a driver strike the rear door of the constructing, reverse his car after which strike the rear door once more. Video exhibits the Honda sedan repeatedly ramming into the wood doorways whereas persons are screaming.
Officers ordered the driving force out of the automotive and positioned him below arrest. The driving force has not but been recognized, and fees are pending.
Police mentioned no accidents have been reported. A consultant for Chabad mentioned the synagogue was evacuated as a precaution.
The NYPD Bomb Squad swept the car and located no explosive gadgets.
Regulation enforcement investigating crash as a possible hate crime
The incident is being investigated by the NYPD Hate Crimes Job Drive. Tisch mentioned as a precaution, the NYPD might be growing safety round homes of worship throughout all 5 boroughs.
In an announcement, Chabad mentioned that “a automotive crashed right into a facet entrance” of the constructing that “encompasses probably the most essential synagogues on this planet. From video and witness accounts it appears to have been intentional.”
Native, federal officers react to the incident
In a social media post, New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani mentioned that he was “relieved that nobody was injured on this horrifying incident.”
“That is deeply alarming, particularly given the deep that means and historical past of the establishment to so many in New York and all over the world,” Mamdani wrote. “Any risk to a Jewish establishment or place of worship should be taken severely. Antisemitism has no place in our metropolis, and violence or intimidation towards Jewish New Yorkers is unacceptable.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote on X that “an assault towards the Jewish group is an assault towards all New Yorkers. My crew is coordinating with the NYPD and have supplied any help we will present of their investigation.”
The Assistant Legal professional Normal for Civil Rights on the U.S. Division of Justice, Harmeet Dhillon, mentioned she instructed legal prosecutors to open a civil rights investigation into the incident.
Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick mentioned this incident provides to the “too-long checklist of violence focusing on Jewish establishments and communities.”
“This actual and rising crises of antisemitism, extremism and violence require whole-of-government and whole-of-society options — from metropolis, state and federal officers, from companions throughout communities, and from civil society — not solely to spend money on bodily safety measures, but additionally to construct the resiliency to hate and extremism within the first place,” she mentioned in an announcement.
