NEW YORK — New York City police have arrested a man on hate crime charges after they say he shouted anti-Semitic threats as he tried to mow down people with his car outside a Jewish school.
Asghar Ali, 58, is charged with attempted murder as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime and reckless driving over the incident that happened just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday outside an Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn.
Video footage posted on social media by the Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol, a volunteer safety force, shows a driver driving onto the sidewalk and then driving toward two men in Hasidic clothing, who flee.
The man then drives around the block and back towards the school, this time targeting three men standing outside.
“He came once and then he came back,” 18-year-old student Ari Shleft told the Daily News. “The first time he hit the sidewalk.”
The driver “made anti-Semitic statements” while threatening the victims, a police spokesman said, adding that no one was injured.
Ali was arrested at the scene and was awaiting arraignment Thursday, a spokesman for the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said. It was not clear whether he had an attorney who would speak on his behalf.
Mayor Eric Adams was asked about the incident in a radio interview Wednesday evening and said Ali appears to be emotionally disturbed.
A man who shares a Brooklyn apartment with Ali confirmed to the Daily News that his roommate has mental health issues.
“He has been in the hospital very often – every eight to 10 months,” Abdullah Mustafa said. “He kept a knife under his pillow. He’s afraid someone is out to get him.”