Late Saturday night, a masked domestic terrorist who has now been identified as Grafton Thomas, 37, barged into the home of a Monsey, New York rabbi, stabbing five during a Hanukkah celebration with a machete knife.
According to reports, Thomas has other serious offenses on his record, including punching a police horse.
Monsey is located in Rockland County, NY, which has the highest-per-capita Jewish population in the U.S.
According to the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council for the Hudson Valley region, Two of the five victims rushed to local hospitals were in critical condition as of late Saturday, with one victim being stabbed six times.
The suspect was picked up late Saturday night in Harlem, after police tracked his license plate.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the domestic terror incident “repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate,” while New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio called it “horrific.”
Jewish Republican New York Rep. Lee Zeldin said, “The violent anti-Semitic attacks in NYC are being caused by raw hate, feckless leadership, a culture of acceptance, education & promotion of anti-Semitism, & lowering quality of life. De Blasio & ALL elected and community leaders need to step up to confront & crush this threat.”