A man has been arrested and charged with multiple hate crimes after disrupting\u00a0Shabbat services and injuring a woman at Central Synagogue in Manhattan Friday night, New York police said.<\/p>\n
The man, identified as 46-year-old Larry Montes from The Bronx, also \u201cdamaged synagogue property,\u201d and spat at and headbutted a member of the synagogue\u2019s security team as he was escorted out of the building, Commissioner Jessica Tisch\u00a0said on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Congregants scrambled as shouts of panic erupted, according to a clip from the synagogue\u2019s livestream obtained by\u00a0CNN affiliate WCBS. A security guard restrained the man as he barreled down the aisle.<\/p>\n A 63-year-old woman suffered a small cut to her lip and injuries to her right forearm after being struck by the man, an NYPD spokesperson told CNN.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was screaming and yelling. I heard a loud pop \u2026 We thought it was a gun,\u201d Susan Roane, who was at the service, told WCBS.<\/p>\n Congregant Arlynn Greenbaum told WCBS she saw the suspect wasn\u2019t armed, but still wanted to take cover.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just ranting and raving and yelling,\u201d she said. \u201cHe was very full of hate.\u201d<\/p>\n New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has had a tense relationship with some members of the city\u2019s Jewish community over his fierce criticism of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza, was quick to condemn the attack.<\/p>\n \u201cThis despicable act has no place in our city, and our administration will do everything in our power to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe,\u201d he said\u00a0on\u00a0<\/a>X on Friday night. He added that New Yorkers must be able to observe their religion without fear of violence.<\/p>\n Montes has been charged with \u201ctwo counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, along with other charges,\u201d Tisch said.<\/p>\n \u201cI have spoken with the rabbi of the synagogue, and I\u2019m relieved that no one was seriously injured. Those who were hurt were evaluated at the scene and are doing well,\u201d Tisch said.<\/p>\n In a statement posted on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0hours after the attack, Central Synagogue said it was grateful for the outpouring of support after Friday\u2019s \u201cdisturbing events.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will keep on gathering for joyful, meaningful Judaism with our Central family every week,\u201d the temple wrote.<\/p>\n While the precise motivation for Friday\u2019s attack remains unclear, it comes amid a rise in reports of antisemitic assaults on American soil. Just last year, the US reached\u00a0a record high of such attacks, including its first fatality since 2022, according to a report published by the Anti-Defamation League.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon condemned what he said was an antisemitic attack, in a post directly criticizing the city\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is another chilling reminder that anti-Semitism does not belong in the past, it\u2019s occurring here and now, in the heart of New York,\u201d he wrote on\u00a0X<\/a>.<\/p>\n New York Governor Kathy Hochul called the attack \u201cappalling.\u201d<\/p>\n