Hate crime law in wake of Hanukkah machete attack used in Buffalo case: Rockland Angle

Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
·1 min read

It is a law that was passed with the hope that it would never have to be invoked.

Now, though, the state has employed charges under the Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act, passed in 2020, and named in memory of a man slain in a 2019 machete attack on a Hanukkah gathering in a Ramapo rabbi's home.

The accused killer of 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket has been charged under the act, which would demand a life sentence with no parole. The market, located in a historic Black community in Buffalo, was targeted, authorities say, out of racist hate.

David Lang of Cheektowaga, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo prays at a memorial across the street from the Tops supermarket where a gunman killed ten people Saturday.
David Lang of Cheektowaga, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo prays at a memorial across the street from the Tops supermarket where a gunman killed ten people Saturday.

The 2019 Hanukkah attack came amid a series of vicious antisemitic acts, and occurred at a celebration at the home of a prominent Hasidic Jewish rabbi.

People wait for the funeral of Josef Neumann at Viznitz Cemetery in Spring Valley March 30, 2020. Neumann, 72, died from his injuries suffered in the Monsey Hanukkah machete attack.
People wait for the funeral of Josef Neumann at Viznitz Cemetery in Spring Valley March 30, 2020. Neumann, 72, died from his injuries suffered in the Monsey Hanukkah machete attack.

"I remember at the time when we did pass it ... hoping that we would never have to use the bill, never have to use the act," former State Sen. David Carlucci told USA Today New York Network reporter Gary Craig.

Read Gary's story here.

If you'd like to share your ideas about Rockland coverage, reach out to Nancy Cutler, ncutler@lohud.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland Angle newsletter for Monday June 6 2022