NYPD investigates 6 attacks at 4 synagogues over a two-day span
Six attacks took place at four different Bronx synagogues between Friday and Sunday, and the New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force is now investigating four of the incidents as possible hate crimes, NYPD Detective Francis Sammon said.
Two of the attacks took place Friday, three on Saturday and one on Sunday, Sammon said. The NYPD is working to identify the suspect, but video surveillance footage appears to suggest that the same person is responsible for all the attacks.
The synagogues attacked include the Riverdale Jewish Center and the Riverdale Jewish Synagogue, also known as Chabad Lubavitch of Riverdale, with each being attacked twice. Young Israel of Riverdale and the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale were each attacked once, Sammon said.
Surveillance footage shows a suspect throwing rocks at the synagogues, Sammon said, breaking windows in doors. All of the attacks occurred after dark, in the late night and early morning hours of the day, he said. No injuries were reported at any of the attacks.
“We are thankful that no one was hurt on either occasion,” a statement from the Riverdale Jewish Center read. “The fact that someone would specifically and repeatedly target houses of worship is of great distress to us all. An act of hate such as this is simply unacceptable … We hope that the perpetrator of these crimes will be apprehended swiftly and justice will be served to the fullest extent of the law.”
Scott Richman, Anti-Defamation League regional director of New York and New Jersey, tweeted a statement saying “the brazen series of attacks on the Jewish community in #Riverdale over the past few nights is truly shocking.”
“We are in touch with law enforcement who is now out in force and is taking this extremely seriously,” Richman’s tweet read.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a statement earlier Sunday condemning the attacks on two of the synagogues.
“I was appalled by a report that an individual threw rocks at glass windows and doors in two Bronx synagogues, smashing and breaking them,” Cuomo said. “We have no tolerance for discriminatory acts that seek to divide us rather than bring us together.”
