A Jewish man was stabbed by a suspect shouting “Free Palestine” just steps from a local synagogue, police said.
The suspect, Vincent Sumpter, 22, was charged with assault as a hate crime after leaving Yechiel Dabrowskin, 33, hospitalized following the heated altercation on the streets of Brooklyn.
It happened early Saturday morning as the Israeli, who had come to the U.S. to study religion, was walking home after a Shabbat meal near the Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights.
It was around 2 a.m. when the suspect was filmed approaching the victim at Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue, allegedly yelling “Do you want to die?” along with the aforementioned war cry.
The footage, taken by nearby surveillance cameras, shows the suspect charging at a group of men with Dabrowskin, before cutting him with a knife. Witnesses were able to chase him down, police said, and he was detained until they arrived.
The suspect, Vincent Sumpter, 22, was charged with assault as a hate crime after the Saturday morning altercation. The victim, Yechiel Dabrowskin, 33, is seen protecting his friends from the attacker.
The 33-year-old Israeli, who came to the United States to study, was admitted to hospital after defending himself. He told reporters that he suffered internal bleeding but is destined to survive.
“It’s very, very painful,” Dabrowskin said. Kan 11 News from his hospital bed on Sunday as he recovers. ‘I had internal bleeding, but thank God I had a miracle.’
He went on to recall how he had been part of a procession that sat down to a quiet dinner near the synagogue where he now studies just a few hours earlier.
That’s when the trouble started, he said, as Sumpter, who is from the not-so-nearby Brownsville neighborhood, will now be prosecuted, cops said.
“At 2 a.m. they said there was a person outside who was threatening children and teenagers,” Dabrowskin told the Israeli news station.
“I heard him say, ‘Free Palestine.’ ‘Do you want to die?'” she recalled.
“I asked him to leave.”
The footage shows the rest, with the attacker seen stabbing Yechiel before fleeing the scene.
But first the Jewish man can be seen protecting his acquaintances from the attacker, as chaos quickly breaks out.
The man recalled that he had been part of a procession that sat peacefully for dinner near the synagogue where he is currently studying, just hours earlier. The victim is seen standing his ground against the attacker as his friends look on.
That’s when the trouble started, he said, when the attacker suddenly approached, screaming.
“I heard him say, ‘Free Palestine,’ ‘Do you want to die?’” she recalled Sunday, still recovering. “I asked him to leave.” Surveillance footage shows the moment the encounter began to escalate.
Another angle shows the man apparently pulling out his gun, before stabbing Dabrowskin and running away. Witnesses were able to detain him until police arrived.
Another angle of the encounter, apparently secured by a bystander, shows the suspect apparently pulling out his gun, before cutting Dabrowskin and running away.
He didn’t get far, however, as onlookers in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood tracked him down and held him pinned down until officers arrived to arrest him.
Meanwhile, Dabrowskin was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where he is expected to recover from his injuries, while his attacker remains in custody.
“When you look at the footage you can see that a friend of mine and I were trying to distance him from us,” Dabrowskin said. said Kan 11 from the clip now being used to potentially convict the alleged anti-Semite in his hate crime case.
“Suddenly he pulled out a knife,” he recalled, without mentioning his own heroism.
“The knife went through my heart. We all rushed at him and called the police.”
He was taken to the hospital in stable condition, police later said, as local officials prepare to arraign the suspect in criminal court sometime Monday.
There he will hear charges of hate crime, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, after which he will enter a plea.
Officials are now set to arraign the suspect in criminal court on Monday, where he will hear charges of hate crime, assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
He is said to have cut Dabrowskin in the stomach during the fight, during which the two men exchanged words.
“Obviously, this is a very serious incident and there has been a lot of anti-Semitic rhetoric,” local Rabbi Behrman told the New York Times of the attack, which is still under investigation.
“I’m concerned that unless this rhetoric stops, it will become more common, unfortunately.”
As of this writing, Sumpter has yet to appear in court. It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney.
This is a developing story; please check back for updates.
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