Hate crime charges filed in attack on Muslim man in New York City

By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) – A New York City man was charged with a hate crime on Monday, with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg describing the incident as an anti-Muslim attack in which the suspect abused and assaulted the victim.

David Grinblat, 34, was charged with repeatedly punching a 25-year-old Muslim man in Midtown while making anti-Islamic remarks, Bragg said in a statement Monday. Grinblat could not immediately be reached for comment. The victim was not identified in the statement.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Human rights activists have warned of a growing threat to American Muslims, Arabs and Jews since the outbreak of Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, which followed an attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7.

KEY QUOTES

“David Grinblat attacked a man because of his perceived religion and nationality and verbally abused him with racist, anti-Muslim language,” Bragg said. The incident occurred on August 5 and the suspect was arrested on August 8.

The suspect spat on the victim, called him a “terrorist,” said he wanted “the death of Muslims” and punched the victim in the face several times, causing a cut to his lip and “redness, swelling and pain to his face and ear,” Bragg added.

In an indictment filed by the New York State Supreme Court, the suspect was charged with “two counts of third-degree assault as a hate crime and one count of second-degree aggravated harassment,” Bragg said.

CONTEXT

Other worrying incidents in the United States include the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois last October, the stabbing of a Muslim man in Texas in February, the shooting of three Arab college students in Vermont in November, and the attempted drowning of a three-year-old Muslim girl in May.

This month, a former Cornell University student was sentenced to 21 months in prison for posting online threats against Jews.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)