NEW YORK (AP) — A suspect in two separate stabbings on New York City streets was arrested Friday on attempted murder and charged with hate crimes relating to both victims, a Jewish man and an Asian man.
Raul Morales, 51, allegedly yelled the Arabic phrase “Allahu akbar” while attacking the two men Thursday on Manhattan's Upper West Side, according to police accounts of what witnesses told them.
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Morales was initially arrested Friday on hate crime charges related to the Jewish man but not the other. He was arraigned later that day and charged with attempted murder and assault as hate crimes related to both victims.
As Morales was led out of a police station Friday evening, he shouted about seeking justice for someone. When reporters asked about the stabbings, he responded that he was “gonna talk about it” as he was ushered into a police car.
Morales' court-appointed attorney did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment late Friday.
The stabbings happened about two blocks apart Thursday afternoon, police said. Both victims were taken to a hospital and were expected to survive. They were in stable condition Friday, state Attorney General Letitia James said at a morning news conference with other officials and community leaders.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, Morales approached the Asian man from behind and stabbed him with a knife “without provocation." Then, after walking four blocks away, he stabbed the Jewish man wearing a kippah with a screwdriver, prosecutors said.
A witness followed Morales as he fled to the apartment he was staying at, prosecutors said.
The Jewish victim was attacked just after leaving a nearby synagogue, called the Jewish Center, Rabbi Yosie Levine said.
“He was just trying to pray at his synagogue, and now we’re the ones praying for his recovery,” Levine said.
The Asian American Foundation, a New York-based advocacy group, said in a statement the attacks “underscore the persistent safety challenges” and mistreatment — from harassment to physical assault — facing Asian Americans in the city.
“We demand continued, meaningful investment in community safety and hate prevention that protects everyone,” the group said in a statement.
The charges Morales faces carry a consecutive total of 40 years in prison, prosecutors said. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 30.
Hate crimes in New York City have been on the rise in recent years, while overall violent crime rates have dropped, according to police data. Tisch said in April that more than half of all confirmed hate crimes in the city so far this year targeted Jewish people. Estimates of the size of the city's Jewish community vary, but it's far less than half the overall population.
“We are undeniably being disproportionately targeted, again and again and again,” City Comptroller Mark Levine said at the Friday morning news conference, where he also told Asian Americans: “We stand in outrage with you.”
James and Levine are Democrats.
