On Wednesday, January 29, a New Jersey man, Dan Sohail, crashed his car into the Chabad Lubavitch headquarters in New York City. The building is located in Brooklyn, and serves as a synagogue, the worldwide headquarters of Chabot.org, and a major symbol of Judaism around the globe.
The incident occurred around 9pm Wednesday evening, when police were called to the scene due to a report of a car crashing into the building. Sohail, the suspect, claimed that his foot had slipped and he had lost control of the vehicle. The bomb squad was also called to the scene and they found no concerning material in the vehicle, and no weapons were found as well.
However, both video footage and bystanders report that Sohail drove into a set of doors, reversed the vehicle, and drove into the doors again. He exited the vehicle and was arrested without resisting, but spit at the crowd as he was walked to the police vehicle. The exact charges he is facing have not been made public, but it is being investigated as a possible hate crime against the headquarters. Wednesday also marked a major Chabad holiday, known as Yud Shevat.
Sohail has had prior encounters with Chabad, as one video footage shows him dancing with students two weeks before the incident, and officers had responded to a call at Chabad where Sohail told them he was homeless and wanted to convert to the religion. However, he has no prior criminal record or any history of hate-related situations.
Due to the incident, patrol has been increased at places of worship across New York City. Mayor Mamdani has spoken out publicly on the incident, announcing that it would be properly investigated as a hate crime and that the video footage obviously shows the crash was purposeful. New York PD’s Hate Crimes Unit has taken over the case, but no further details have been provided to the public at the moment.
