Two Men Stabbed on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in Possible Hate Crime
The suspect has been arrested and the victims are expected to survive, police say
- Two men were stabbed in New York City on Thursday in what police are evaluating as a potential hate crime.
- Police arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales, who witnesses and victims said yelled “Allahu akbar” during the attacks.
- The victims, a 57-year-old Asian man and a 50-year-old Jewish man, are expected to survive.
Two men were stabbed in New York City on Thursday in what police say they are evaluating as a potential hate crime.
The victims are expected to survive, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. One is a 57-year-old Asian man and the other is a 50-year-old Jewish man, police said.
Both were stabbed in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood in two separate locations a few blocks apart, the New York Police Department said. The attacks occurred around 1:30 p.m. near Central Park.
According to victim and witness statements, the suspect yelled “Allahu akbar” during both attacks, Tisch said. Allahu akbar is an Arabic phrase that translates to “God is greater.”
The suspect, Raul Morales, 51, was arrested, she said. It wasn’t immediately known if Morales had a lawyer.
Morales doesn’t have any known mental health history with the police, Tisch said, but “the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was briefed on the stabbings. “These hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city,” he said.
The mayor, a Democratic socialist, has been critical of the Israeli government, alienating some moderate Democrats and Jewish New Yorkers. He recently had been exploring whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be arrested on a visit to New York. The International Criminal Court in 2024 issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over alleged war crimes in Gaza, charges Israel rejects. Mamdani said earlier this week he didn’t have the authority to make the arrest but urged the federal government to execute the warrant.