Russian Woman Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges for Stabbing New York Jewish Men With a Needle

A Russian woman accused of attacking two Jewish men at Manhattan’s Diamond District now faces federal hate crimes.The Justice Department says Anna Mochalova allegedly attacked the two men in quick succession last Wednesday using a sharp object that was believed to be a needle.Surveillance video shows the attacker following a man dressed in traditional Hasidic Jewish clothing along West 47th Street. The victim said he noticed he was being followed by a woman speaking Russian and tried to evade her. A short time later, the victim was stabbed in his lower back. He described it as the feeling of a needle prick.The attacker kept walking and approached two men who were standing together at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 45th Street. Ms. Mochalova allegedly bumped into one of the men multiple times. When he started to confront her, she stabbed him in the right forearm. The victim, who speaks Russian, said Ms. Mochalova said something to the effect of “run away, I have a gun.”Ms. Mochalova allegedly asked the second man in the duo if he was Jewish and when he responded that he was Muslim, prosecutors say Ms. Mochalova said she “was so sorry” and took off.Ms. Mochalova faces two counts of committing hate crimes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each count. Prosecutors say she “deliberately and viciously” targeted the victims because they were Jewish.Ms. Mochalova was arrested Saturday evening aboard a subway train. She already faces state assault, weapons, menacing, and aggravated harassment charges in connection with the attack. She was transferred from state custody on Wednesday and will appear in Manhattan federal court.“A hate crime is a message written in violence, and this defendant’s message was loud and clear,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a release. “Every New Yorker has the right to walk our streets safe from hatred and violence,” she added.It was unclear if the needle used in the attack contained any substance. The Justice Department says that is still under review.“This office will continue to seek justice for victims of hate-based crimes and will aggressively prosecute those who seek to spread bigotry through violence,” United States Attorney Jamie McDonald said.“Mochalova’s alleged actions were an attack on the fundamental right to freely and safely express one’s religious identity in public,” Mr. McDonald added.

Russian Woman Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges for Stabbing New York Jewish Men With a Needle

Russian Woman Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges for Stabbing New York Jewish Men With a Needle

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