Defendant pleads guilty to damaging Chabad World Headquarters in New York

The defendant who repeatedly rammed a vehicle in the Chabad Hasidic movement’s headquarters in New York City in January pleads guilty to damaging religious property.

Dan Sohail faces a maximum three years in prison in the federal Eastern District of New York court.

During the incident, Sohail drove to Chabad’s headquarters, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, during an event marking the anniversary of the passing of the movement’s late leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

He parked his Honda Accord nearby, moved barriers near a side entrance, told congregants to move away, returned to his vehicle, and slammed into an entrance door at least five times, knocking it off its hinges. No one was injured.

Sohail was arrested at the scene and charged with a hate crime.

During an interview with law enforcement, he said he had previously visited the building, and that “he had recently learned he had Jewish heritage and was in the process of learning more about the Jewish tradition,” the complaint said.

Sohail claimed he had been invited to an event at the building that night and had “lost control of the car because of icy conditions and because he was wearing heavy boots.”

After his arrest, New York police said Sohail had previous contacts with Chabad, attending a “social gathering” at the same location around 10 days before the incident.

The building at 770 Eastern Parkway, known as “770,” is likely the most famous and recognizable Jewish site in New York City. The structure is iconic for the Chabad movement and there are replicas of the building in other countries, including in Kfar Chabad in Israel.

The incident provoked widespread shock and alarm in the Jewish community and from elected leaders in the city, where Jews are targeted in hate crimes more than all other groups combined.

“The defendant’s dangerous conduct was a targeted attack on the religious liberty and peace of worship to which every American is entitled,” says US Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. “Today’s conviction sends a clear message: the Department of Justice will not tolerate acts of hatred and violence against religious institutions.”