Police in New York City are working to identify a suspect believed to be responsible for six attacks on four different synagogues between Friday and Sunday, numerous sources reported.
The New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Hate Crimes Task Force is searching for the individual believed to have hurled rocks at four Bronx synagogues, according to NBC 4. Young Israel of Riverdale and the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale were each attacked once, and Riverdale Jewish Center and the Riverdale Jewish Synagogue were each attacked twice, totaling six attacks, CNN reported.
NYPD Detective Francis Sammon said two of the attacks happened Friday, three on Saturday and one on Sunday, according to CNN. In each attack, a suspect is believed to have thrown rocks and shattered or heavily damaged windows and doors at the synagogues at nighttime.
On Saturday night, the suspect broke the windows at Riverdale Jewish Synagogue. Ten minutes later, someone smashed the windows at the Conservative Synagogue, according to WPIX. Minutes later, someone smashed the windows at Young Israel of Riverdale before the Riverdale Jewish Center was targeted for the second time.
In the NYPD’s reports of the incidents, a single assailant is believed to have been behind the attacks, according to NBC 4.
We are investigating: April 24th, approx. 10:45 PM, a male threw objects at windows of the Young Israel of Riverdale Synagogue, 4502 Henry Hudson Pkwy, Bronx causing glass to shatter. Info about this or several similar incidents in the area ☎️ or DM @NYPDTips 1-800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/rAziYY8B1U
— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) April 25, 2021
— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) April 25, 2021
No injuries were reported in the attacks, CNN reported.
Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday afternoon that the NYPD had a “solid lead on the vile acts of anti-Semitism in the Bronx.”
UPDATE: The @NYPDHateCrimes task force has a solid lead on the vile acts of anti-Semitism in the Bronx and we will take swift action against the perpetrators.
If you have any more information on this case, contact the NYPD right away. https://t.co/CC15V2KMSa
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 25, 2021
“The fact that someone would specifically and repeatedly target houses of worship is of great distress to us all,” the Riverdale Jewish Center said in a statement, according to CNN. “An act of hate such as this is simply unacceptable … We hope that the perpetrator of these crimes will be apprehended swiftly and justice will be served to the fullest extent of the law.”
Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist with the NYPD’s investigation Sunday, according to NBC 4.
“We stand with Jewish New Yorkers — an essential part of the fabric of our state — as we do with all victims of bigotry, and I look forward to seeing this investigation resolved quickly,” Cuomo said, according to NBC 4.
No arrests were reported as of Monday morning.
Earlier in April, the NYPD investigated an assailant who slashed a Hasidic couple and their toddler in Battery Park. (RELATED: NYPD Hate Crimes Unit Investigates After Orthodox Jews, Including Baby, Are Slashed)