Three Men Indicted for Assault and Menacing as Hate Crimes For Attacking Jewish People Outside Synagogues

 by Yehudit Garmaise

     Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that three Brooklyn men have been charged in a 30-count indictment after they allegedly targeted Jewish men in in the close vicinity to shuls on May 22, which was a Shabbos.

     Daniel Shaukat, 20, of Bensonhurst, Haider Anjam, 21, of Midwood, and Ashan Azad 19, of Midwood, whose have been ordered to return to court on Sept. 9, have been charged with third-degree assault as a hate crime, second-degree menacing as a hate crime, third-degree assault, criminal mischief, criminal obstruction of briefing, and other charges that came unusually quickly.

     If convicted of all 30 counts, the defendants face maximum sentences of one and one-third to four years in prison.

      “All members of Brooklyn’s diverse communities should feel free to go about their day and observe their religion without fear of being targeted,” District Attorney Gonzalez said. “Attacks such as those described in this indictment: including violence and threats of violence that stem from bias and bigotry – are abhorrent and will be prosecuted.”

     Gonzalez, who is the only district attorney to hire a team of 10 senior investigators to work exclusively on hate crimes, has long been a friend to the Jewish community, explained Berish Freilich, who served as the director for community affairs for the New York state police for 18 years.

    “The Brooklyn hate crime detectives, who report directly to Gonzalez, immediately found the perpetrators and took them to a grand jury, which indicted them,” said Mr. Freilich.

     The swiftness with which justice was served again showed the community just how seriously Brooklyn’s district attorney’s office takes anti-Semitic hate crimes.

     “Right away we feel that we have a department that cares and takes action immediately, and the same thing with the state police,” said Mr. Freilich, who pointed out that the Jewish community can be a vulnerable one.

    “We don’t have guns,” said Mr. Freilich. “We don’t use any force on anybody. The only thing we can do is pray to our Basheffer and rely on the police department and district attorney’s office.”

     In response to the community’s thanks and requests for the continued carriage of swift justice, Mr. Gonzalez said, “100%: I am the only one who has a hate crime unit, and any hate crime we take extremely seriously because we have a special unit for that and that is the way we work fast.”