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Raul Morales, 51, was indicted on hate crime charges on Tuesday in connection with two daylight stabbings near synagogues on Manhattan’s Upper West Side on July 23.
The first assault happened near West 84th Street and Central Park West, where prosecutors say Morales came up behind a 57-year-old man and stabbed him in the back, shouting “Allahu Akbar.”
Minutes later, prosecutors say, Morales struck again near West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, blocks from the first attack, stabbing a Jewish man, 50, in the chest with a screwdriver. The victim was wearing a kippah at the time.
Surgeons had to remove a knife still lodged in the first victim’s back, and both men survived their wounds. Police located Morales at his nearby apartment, and he surrendered that same afternoon. A search of his phone turned up text messages with explicit antisemitic language, which prosecutors cited as evidence of an alleged antisemitic motive.
“Raul Morales was allegedly motivated by antisemitism when he attacked two New Yorkers in broad daylight near two Upper West Side synagogues,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “Since the initial arrest, my office has continued to thoroughly investigate this matter and has uncovered additional evidence alleging the defendant specifically harbors antisemitic views. This case is a prime example of how hate crimes make all of us less safe.”
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Morales “violently assaulted two innocent New Yorkers for no other reason than his belief they were Jewish,” crediting officers who “responded quickly, identified the suspect, and took him into custody that same afternoon.”
The multi-count indictment charges Morales with hate crime offenses including second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, first-degree attempted assault, and second-degree assault.
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Read more:
Jewish Man Wounded in Stabbing Outside New York City Synagogue by Assailant Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’
