Hanukkah stabbing suspect is indicted on five hate crime charges in New York

A federal grand jury handed up hate crime charges Thursday against the man accused of stabbing five people with a machete during a Hanukkah celebration north of New York City.

The indictment charges Grafton Thomas with five counts each of attempting to kill victims based on their religion and obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon.

Thomas, 37, also faces state charges in the December 28 attack inside the home of a rabbi in Monsey, NY. He is being held without bail on the federal charges.

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‘We now allege that he did this with the intention of targeting his victims because of their religion,’ Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a news release. ‘Thomas faces life in prison for his alleged violent acts of prejudice and intolerance.’

A message was sent to Thomas’ defense attorney, Michael Sussman, seeking comment. Sussman has said Thomas had a long history of mental illness. He has requested Thomas undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Authorities have said they found a blood-stained 18-inch (45-centimeter) machete in Thomas’ car, along with a knife smeared with dried blood and hair. They also said Thomas had handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references and recently used his phone to look up information on Hitler and the location of synagogues.

The picture above shows the apparent moment Grafton Thomas stormed into a rabbi’s house in Monsey with a machete before allegedly attacking five Hanukkah celebrants

An image was taken apparently moments before the attack shows Rabbi Chaim Leibush Rottenberg (sitting), who is the leader of Congregation Netzach Yisrael-Kosson

One of the men wounded in the machete attack remains in serious condition. His family has said he may have permanent brain damage.

Thomas is accused of storming into the home of Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg, a prominent Hasidic Jewish leader in a predominantly ultra-Orthodox community of Monsey, New York, and attacking guests gathered there for a Hanukkah celebration.

Thomas allegedly took out a machete and started stabbing and slashing people in the home packed with dozens of congregants.

The five victims suffered serious injuries – including a severed finger, slash wounds and deep lacerations.

The most gravely injured is reported to be a 72-year-old man who suffered machete blows to his head, leaving him partially paralyzed, comatose and breathing on a respirator.

Josef Neumann, a father-of-seven children from New York, sustained a ‘fractured skull’ and had been ‘sliced through his neck’.

Authorities said Thomas fled by car to Manhattan, where he was arrested later that night. 

Josef Neumann, a father-of-seven children from New York, sustained a ‘fractured skull’ and had been ‘sliced through his neck’. He is pictured following the horrific attack

Thomas’ attorney, Michael Sussman, has said his client’s actions were likely an expression of psychosis rather than bigotry.

Thomas was arrested within two hours of the attack. When police pulled his car over in Manhattan, he allegedly had blood all over his clothing and smelled of bleach but said ‘almost nothing’ to the arresting officers.

Authorities say they discovered a blood-stained 18-inch machete and a knife smeared with dried blood and hair from Thomas’ car after the attack.

The stabbings, which occurred on the seventh night of Hanukkah, came amid a series of violent attacks targeting Jews in the region that have led to increased security, particularly around religious gatherings.

An attorney retained by the alleged attacker’s family, Michael Sussman, said Thomas had been hearing voices and may have stopped taking psychiatric medications recently.