Orange County Man Charged with Federal Hate Crimes for December 28, 2019, Machete Attack at Rabbi’s Home

Eric Dreiband, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Geoffrey S. Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the FBI, announced today that Grafton Thomas has been charged with five counts of obstructing the free exercise of religion in an attempt to kill, a federal hate crime, related to his machete attack during Shabbat and Hanukkah observances at a Rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, on the night of Dec. 28, 2019. Thomas is expected to be presented in White Plains federal court later today.