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A New Jersey man is facing multiple hate crime charges after police say he intentionally rammed his car repeatedly into the Chabad World Headquarters in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood.
The incident occurred Thursday when Dan Sohail, 36, allegedly drove his 2012 Honda Accord into the entrance of the Orthodox Jewish movement's headquarters around 8:45 p.m., according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
Officers who were already assigned to the location witnessed Sohail hit the entrance, back up, and ram it again multiple times before they intervened. Video of the incident shows Sohail exiting his vehicle wearing only a shirt and shorts despite the winter weather, then appearing to spit at the gathered crowd while being detained.
"The hate crime right now is that he basically attacked a Jewish institution," Kenny said. "He knew it was a synagogue."
No one was injured in the incident, but the building was evacuated as a precaution, ABC News reported.
Despite Sohail claiming his foot had "slipped" and blaming "clunky boots" for losing control of the vehicle, police said security footage shows he had deliberately parked blocks away, then moved several barricades and cleared snow before the attack.
Kenny revealed that Sohail had previously visited the headquarters in December during a "social gathering" and was attempting to "connect" with the Lubavitch community. Scott Richman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, told media that Sohail had gone to several Chabad communities in New Jersey that were not "accepting" of him and may have been lashing out.
According to New Jersey 101.5, Sohail has no criminal history in New York but has a 2008 shoplifting charge in Middlesex County, New Jersey that was reduced to loitering. Law enforcement sources indicate he has a history of mental health issues and recently spent two weeks in Israel at the end of December.
The incident occurred during a Chabad holiday when thousands of people from around the world were gathered at the headquarters. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it a "horrifying incident" and stated that "antisemitism has no place in our society."
Sohail now faces multiple charges including first- and second-degree attempted assault, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, and aggravated assault, all as hate crimes.
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