{"id":342427,"date":"2026-09-10T01:47:06","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T01:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/342427\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T01:47:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T01:47:06","slug":"accused-in-central-synagogue-antisemitic-spree-while-claiming-he-was-god-hit-with-new-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/342427\/","title":{"rendered":"Accused in Central Synagogue antisemitic spree while claiming he was God hit with new charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Bronx man accused of attacking two people inside Central Synagogue in midtown Manhattan while claiming he was God<\/a> and spewing antisemitic and racist slurs at horrified congregants was hit with additional hate crime charges Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Appearing in Manhattan Supreme Court in handcuffs and tan-colored jail clothing, Larry Montes pleaded not guilty to criminal mischief, third-degree assault and attempted assault, all charged as hate crimes \u2014 in addition to several misdemeanor offenses, including criminally interfering with religious worship, disrupting a religious service, and aggravated harassment.<\/p>\n

\"LarryLarry Montes arrives in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The chaotic Aug. 14 incident at Central Synagogue on E. 55th St. near Lexington Ave. during a Sabbath service began when Montes got out of his seat, walked up to the bimah where rabbis read the Torah and invoked a Hebrew phrase that refers to god, yelling out that he was \u201cHashem\u201d before knocking over and smashing two candleholders valued at more than $7,000, according to the eight-count indictment<\/a> filed Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old\u2019s rampage continued as he walked up the synagogue aisle, shouting antisemitic remarks like \u201cswine\u201d at congregants and assaulting a 63-year-old woman<\/a> with the back of his hand during a scuffle as security sought to intervene and remove him from the house of worship, according to Manhattan prosecutors. The injured woman suffered cuts on her lip and right arm, court docs detail.<\/p>\n

\"LarryLarry Montes leaves Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The Mott Haven man, who also faces federal hate crime charges<\/a> in relation to the disturbing incident and is being held pretrial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, ultimately redirected his ire at a 65-year-old security guard, spitting in his face, headbutting him and calling him an anti-Black slur, according to Bragg\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg condemned the attack and said his office would remain on alert to safeguard Manhattan synagogues with the Jewish High Holidays coming up.<\/p>\n

\"ManhattanManhattan DA Alvin Bragg speaks to the media in Manhattan Supreme Court after observing Larry Montes\u2019s arraignment Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201cAn attack on a house of worship threatens an entire community\u2019s sense of safety and the sanctity of these community pillars must be protected. I commend the Jewish community for its resilience amid heightened antisemitism, and I wish the victims a full recovery,\u201d the DA said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the Jewish High Holidays approach, we will remain vigilant alongside the NYPD to protect our synagogues throughout Manhattan.<\/p>\n

\"PolicePolice have filed hate crime charges against Larry Montes, who allegedly attacked two people at Central Synagogue on Lexington Ave. (Central Synagogue)<\/p>\n

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch echoed the DA\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur synagogues should be sacred spaces where New Yorkers can worship safely, but Larry Montes violated that sanctity when he disrupted a service at Central Synagogue and assaulted a congregant, as outlined in the indictment,\u201d Tisch said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NYPD will continue to stand with our Jewish communities and use the full force of this department to investigate hate crimes of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Montes\u2019 criminal court arraignment in August, prosecutors said he told NYPD officers who arrested him<\/a> that his diatribe was \u201ca religious thing\u201d and that he\u2019d been \u201cacting on instinct.\u201d<\/p>\n

A relative of the man told the Daily News last month that Montes\u2019 mental health had taken a plunge following the passing of his grandmother, who raised him, and that he needed help.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not a racist,\u201d Montes\u2019 cousin, who asked not to be named, said. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t been OK after our grandmother passed away \u2026 Since he\u2019s been alone, he\u2019s been acting really weird.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Bronx man accused of attacking two people inside Central Synagogue in midtown Manhattan while claiming he was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[266,75,84,83,9,24,10,12,63],"class_list":["post-342427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-news","tag-news","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}