NEW YORK (AP) — A man who repeatedly drove his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in New York City earlier this year pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges of intentionally damaging religious property.
Dan Sohail, 36, was previously arrested on state charges following the Jan. 28 incident, which damaged an entrance of the revered Jewish site, but did not cause any injuries.
He appeared in federal court Monday to face the newly unsealed
federal charges, wearing a yarmulke as he told a federal judge that he was in the process of converting to Judaism. His attorney, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, said Sohail denied his actions were “intentional in the manner described by the government.”
Federal prosecutors said Sohail directed congregants to move out of the way before striking the side of the building with his car five consecutive times. He later claimed he had lost control of the vehicle and pressed on the gas with his heavy boots.
Several people close to him — including family members and Chabad rabbis — have said Sohail did not seem to harbor any hatred toward Jews, and confirmed that he had expressed interest in converting to the religion.
Weeks before the incident, he had attended a social gathering at the Chabad headquarters, where he was seen on video dancing with Orthodox men, according to police.
Sohail’s father told The Daily News that his son suffered from “mental problems,” but had “a very good friendship, relationship with the Jews.”
The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison if the damage is found to have exceeded $5,000.
A spokesperson for Chabad declined to comment on the federal charges and the cost of damages to the door.
The crash occurred on the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson becoming the leader of the Lubavitch movement and prompted immediate concern in the city. Schneerson died in 1994 but remains a revered figure globally.
There has been a near constant police presence around the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters for years.
The site was at the epicenter of the Crown Heights riots in 1991, when Black residents of the neighborhood attacked Jews after a child was killed by a car traveling in Schneerson’s motorcade. In 2014, a disturbed man entered the synagogue and stabbed a rabbinical student, wounding him, before being shot dead by police.
