Incendiary devices were detonated in front of the homes of two rabbis in suburban New York’s Rockland County in what one of the victims called a “premeditated hate crime.”
According to reports, at about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, a device exploded in New City under a car parked outside the home of Rabbi Simcha Morganstern, an associate rabbi at the Chabad of Rockland.
Moments later, a similar attack took place one block away in front of the home of Avremel Kotlarsky, the director of Chabad of Rockland.
No one was injured in the small blazes that resulted.
Kotlarsky described the explosions as “coordinated” and a “premeditated hate crime.”
About 15 adults and children were gathered at Morganstern’s house when the incendiary device was set off, the Patch reported.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the attacks.
“We are outraged by this shocking incident in what appears to be the alleged targeting of two prominent rabbis, and we join with local leadership, including the Jewish Federation of Rockland County, in strongly condemning this brazen act of violence,” said Evan Bernstein, director of the ADL New York Region.
New City, a town with a population of 33,559, is nearly 50 kilometres (30 miles) from New York City.
