A Bronx man was arrested and charged with hate crimes after disrupting Shabbat services at a New York City synagogue and assaulting both a congregation member and a security guard on Friday evening.
Larry Montes, 46, was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime for the incident at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue, according to New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Montes entered the synagogue on Friday evening during Shabbat services and disrupted the services. According to Tisch, he struck a member of the congregation, damaged synagogue property, and spit at and headbutted a security guard as they attempted to remove him from the premises.
An NYPD sergeant working as a security guard at the synagogue then stepped in and took Montes into custody.
Tisch stated that those who were hurt during the incident were not seriously injured, were evaluated on scene, and are “doing well.” She added that there are no additional threats at the moment and an investigation into the incident has been initiated.
This is a developing story.