Orange County Man Charged with Additional 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 United States 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 indicted by a federal grand jury with five counts of willfully causing bodily injury to five victims because of the victims’ religion and five counts of obstructing the free exercise of religion in an attempt to kill, federal hate crimes, related to his alleged machete attack during Hanukkah observances at a rabbi’s home in Monsey, New York, on the night of Dec. 28, 2019.