Federal prosecutors announced Monday that Grafton, 37, of Greenwood Lake, New York, has been charged in connection with the Hanukkah stabbing at a rabbi’s home in Monsey on Saturday. According to NBC News, the charges were filed in the Southern District of New York and include five counts of obstruction of the free exercise of religious beliefs, involving an attempt to kill and use of a dangerous weapon, and resulting in bodily injury.
On Sunday, ABC News reports, he pleaded not guilty in state court to five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary.
According to the federal criminal complaint, the man who entered the rabbi’s home had his face covered with what appeared to be a scarf and told the dozens of people gathered inside that “no one is leaving.” Five people were wounded. Police arrested a suspect in Harlem about two hours after the attack, which happened around 10 p.m.
The complaint also says investigators searching his home found handwritten journals that allegedly contained antisemitic writings, including a drawing of a Star of David and a swastika and references to “Nazi culture” and Adolf Hitler. Prosecutors said the victims were hospitalized with wounds including a severed finger, slash wounds and deep lacerations, and that at least one victim suffered a skull fracture and is in serious condition.
His family said in a statement Sunday night that he has a long history of mental illness and hospitalizations, and that his attorney, Michael Sussman, was instructed to seek an immediate mental health evaluation. The family also said he is not part of any hate group. Sussman said at a news conference Monday that he would describe his client as mentally ill, that he had been hospitalized multiple times this year and was on a variety of medications.
The charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent.
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