Police Probing Monsey Suspect’s Background; Jewish Leaders Call for State of Emergency to be Declared

In the wake of the horrifying machete attack in Monsey, the New York Post is reporting that police are checking into whether suspect Grafton Thomas may have been part of an earlier antisemitic attack.

By Howard M. Riell

According to the Journal News, a November 20 attack in Monsey saw a Jewish man beaten and stabbed on his way to early morning services at the Mosdos Meharam Brisk Tashnad religious center. The victim of the attack is said to be a father of four. His injuries were so grievous that police initially reported that he had been run over by an automobile.

Journal News quoted Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel as saying that the victim had been “approached from behind by one or more individuals,” The weapon used in the attack was not identified, not recovered at the scene.

Reaction to the most recent attack by local officials was immediate. “Orthodox Jews are being regularly assaulted, menaced, stabbed and murdered in increasing numbers,” says a letter that was signed by city councilmen Chaim Deutsch and Kalman Yeger, plus state Sen. Simcha Felder and Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein. It was delivered to Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday morning. “Simply stated,” it continued, “it is no longer safe to be identifiable Orthodox in the State of New York. We cannot shop, walk down a street, send our children to school, or even worship in peace.”

“With respect to the local DAs, what they are doing isn’t helping,” Deutsch told The New York Post, a reference to changes to the bail laws that are allowing those arrested for antisemitic and other crimes to walk free without bail. “When anti-Semitic attackers are released just hours after they are arrested, it sends a message that New York City doesn’t take hate crimes seriously. With no visible consequences, what’s preventing others from attacking us?”

Fox News reported that New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said Saturday night’s attack was the 13th anti-Semitic attack in New York since Dec. 8 and endemic of “an American cancer on the body politic.”

“This is violence spurred by hate, it is mass violence and I consider this an act of domestic terrorism,” Cuomo said. “Let’s call it what it is.”

Ramapo Police Chief Brad Weidel said it was unclear why the rabbi’s house was targeted or if a specific ideology motivated the suspect. According to the official briefed on the investigation, authorities do not believe Thomas is connected to recent anti-Semitic incidents in New York City.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the FBI to investigate possible links between the Monsey stabbing spree and other recent attacks. The Simon Wiesenthal Center said it wants the FBI to create a special task force.

“Enough talk, it is time for action to deter those who propagate this hatred,” Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said.

A survivor of the machete attack said in the New York Post (read the full story at https://nypost.com/2019/12/29/monsey-stabbing-survivor-describes-confrontation-with-attacker/) of the horror he saw unfold. In a video posted on the Voz Is Neias website,

Yosef Eli Glick recounted: “I grabbed a small coffee table that was by the door. I threw it at him. I kept on screaming, ‘He’s coming! Run away! Run away, everybody! He’s coming! He’s coming!’ He said, ‘Hey you, I’ll get you!’”

Glick noted: “He came into the front room, the coat room, and I was in the dining room, on the left side. And the guy came in with a big machete or a sword, and he started swinging, back and forth, to try to hit people. And I started pushing out people. We all started to run out.”

He added: “I saw an old guy, bleeding from his head. I said, ‘Come out.’ He said, ‘I’m bleeding, I can’t.’”