fbpx

Attack on building is hate crime, N.Y. court rules

A person can be guilty of a hate crime even if his victim is a building and not a person, a New York court found.\n\nThe state\'s Court of Appeals affirmed Tuesday that Mazin Assi\'s conviction under New York\'s hate crimes statute for throwing firebombs at a Bronx synagogue in 2000 was valid.\n
[additional-authors]
April 1, 2010

A person can be guilty of a hate crime even if his victim is a building and not a person, a New York court found.

The state’s Court of Appeals affirmed Tuesday that Mazin Assi’s conviction under New York’s hate crimes statute for throwing firebombs at a Bronx synagogue in 2000 was valid.

Assi was convicted in 2003 of attempted arson and criminal mischief as hate crimes and sentenced to five to 15 years in prison. In an appeal, Assi claimed that his conviction under the hate crimes law should be reversed since he attacked property and not a person.

“It is self-evident that, although the target of the defendant’s criminal conduct was a building, the true victims were the individuals of Jewish faith who were members of the synagogue,” Judge Victoria Graffeo wrote in the court’s opinion, according to the New York Daily News.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Difficult Choices

Jews have always believed in the importance of higher education. Today, with the rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, Jewish high school seniors are facing difficult choices.

All Aboard the Lifeboat

These are excruciating times for Israel, and for the Jewish people.  It is so tempting to succumb to despair. That is why we must keep our eyes open and revel in any blessing we can find.  

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.