Raul Morales, 51, who allegedly yelled “Alahu akbar” while stabbing a Jewish man and an Asian man on Thursday on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, has been charged with attempted murder as a hate crime, the New York City Police Department told JNS.
Morales faces charges of “attempted murder as a hate crime, attempted murder, assault as a hate crime, two counts of assault and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon,” the NYPD said.
Jewish groups have blamed Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, for inciting the attack. Days prior, the mayor released a video calling the Israeli prime minister a “war criminal” and calling on federal authorities to arrest him when he comes to the Big Apple for the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Mamdani stated on Friday of the suspect that he is “thankful that he is being held accountable and hope he will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Our administration will always stand against bigotry and do everything in our power to root out antisemitism, racism and hateful acts of all kinds,” Mamdani said.
