Driver repeatedly rams NY synagogue
The streets of Brooklyn became the focus of a critical investigation as the New York Police Department and the Department of Justice launched a probe into an alleged hate crime. The incident took place on a Wednesday when a vehicle aggressively struck the entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters repeatedly. Captured by Daniel David Yeroshalmi, the footage of this alarming episode spread via Storyful, triggering widespread concern.
A dramatic turn in the legal saga unfolded when, on Wednesday, a man faced the consequences of his actions. After deliberately crashing his car into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters back in January, he received a sentence of six months and one week in jail, specifically for damaging a side-entry door of the prominent establishment.
The man at the center of this incident, 36-year-old Dan Sohail from New Jersey, learned his fate in a Brooklyn federal court. In addition to his prison sentence, he was handed a hefty bill, required to pay $20,000 as restitution. Having already served six months, Sohail is expected to regain his freedom shortly, in roughly a week’s time.
Sohail had been formally accused of deliberately targeting a religious institution, admitting his guilt this past May. His actions placed him in the legal crosshairs under charges that underscored the gravity of such offenses.
Though prosecutors pushed for a longer stint behind bars, recommending a 14-month sentence to send a strong message against rising antisemitic hate incidents, the presiding judge opted for a lighter punishment. Prosecutors had hoped an extended sentence might deter similar future attacks on Jewish establishments, reflecting the ongoing concerns about increasing hate crimes targeting these communities.
Dan Sohail was sentenced to six months and a week behind bars for ramming his car into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
On Jan. 28, Sohail repeatedly rammed his vehicle into the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters. He moved protective barriers, gestured for congregants to get out of the way and drove his car into the building’s side entrance five times, knocking the door off its hinges and destroying his car’s front bumper.
While the doors were damaged, no injuries were reported.
Judge Eric N. Vitaliano said he was “somewhat saddened” that the Justice Department wanted him to be influenced at sentencing by the public’s mistaken initial impression that the attack was a hate crime.
Prosecutors said ahead of sentencing that 80 of 146 hate crime incidents across New York City since the start of the year were based on crimes targeting Jewish people and institutions.
Judge Eric N. Vitaliano said he was “somewhat saddened” to see that the DOJ attempted to influence him by a mistaken initial belief among the public that the attack was a hate crime. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
But Vitaliano said the government’s push for a stricter sentence as a deterrent to future attacks was in part based on the incident initially being labeled as an “I-hate-the-Jews crime, or, worse, an act-of-terrorism crime.”
The judge cited a psychiatric report and said Sohail’s mental health challenges “played an important role” in his sentencing.
“This is a sad tale,” Vitaliano said.
Sohail’s lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, said he had been trying to win acceptance at the Jewish institution as he struggled with psychological issues.
Dan Sohail was charged with intentionally damaging religious property, pleading guilty in May. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Eisner-Grynberg told the judge in court papers before sentencing that Sohail was battling depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatic childhood when he carried out the attack, even as he “desperately sought belonging and understanding through his exploration of Judaism.”
She said Sohail attended the Chabad he later attacked, finding rabbinical students there “warm and welcoming.”
Sohail “danced with them” and followed their recommendation to visit Israel, but he became erratic and extremely anxious after returning to the U.S., “begging” members of Chabad to help him, Eisner-Grynberg said.
Ramming the car into the building was “an irrational cry for help,” she said.