The unhinged man who assault two people in an antisemitic attack at a Midtown synagogue referred to himself as God, called the congregants “swine” and screamed an anti-Black slur at a security guard, prosecutors said.
Larry Montes, 46, was ordered held on $30,000 bond at his arraignment before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Janice Chen just before midnight Saturday. Prosecutors had asked for $150,000 bond.
Montes was hit with charges including aggravated assault and criminal mischief, both as hate crimes. Prosecutors called the Friday attack at Central Synagogue antisemitic and accuse Montes of trying to intimidate the peaceful congregation.
“It was a religious thing. It was about religion,” Montes admitted after his arrest, according to a criminal complaint. He called the congregants “swine” and “fake Jews” as he confessed and said he was “acting on instinct,” prosecutors said.
On Saturday night, Michele Ananberg-Poma, one of the congregants attacked by Montes, posted on Instagram she would not be cowed by the assault.
“You will not punch out our Jewish light. You will not stand and cause harm to our eternal light,” she wrote. “We will continue to sing our prayers of peace, love, and joy while protecting the voices that lead us each week. Our beloved Central Synagogue stands for all — stands so tall, a light, a light truly for all.”
Montes, who was sitting with the congregation during the Sabbath service, stormed up the central aisle to the front of the synagogue about 6:10 p.m. toward the bimah, or raised platform where rabbis read the Torah.
“I am Hashem!” he yelled, using a Hebrew word that refers to God, as he rushed the rabbi’s platform, according to a criminal complaint.
Video posted on X.com shows the congregation react with shock as he pumps his fist and rants, “Do you know who I am?” Two women performing a song flee to safety as Montes reaches the bimah, spins around and marches back down the aisle, this time escorted from behind by a security guard.
Montes grabbed and threw two $10,000 candleholders to the ground, breaking them, and screamed at the congregation, according to prosecutors.
Montes lives in Mott Haven in the Bronx.
He allegedly struck a 63-year-old woman’s face, splitting her lip and sending her crashing to the ground, then yelled, “f–k you, n—-r!” at a 65-year-old Black security guard before spitting in the man’s face and headbutting him, prosecutors said.
Montes then tried to flee but security staff, an NYPD officer working a detail at the synagogue, and congregants stopped and restrained him, prosecutors said.
Montes has two past misdemeanor convictions in New York — one from when he stole headphones from Best Buy and brandished a knife when security tried to stop him in 2024, the other from when he stole deodorant from a CVS store and punched a worker there several times in the head.
He faces five to 15 years behind bars if convicted of felony criminal mischief as a hate crime, the top charge against him.
Relatives said Montes is a troubled person whose struggles have worsened since the recent death of his grandmother, who raised him.
“He’s not a racist,” Montes’ cousin, who wished not to be named, told the Daily News. “He just needs help.”
The NYPD has investigated 205 confirmed antisemitic hate crimes in the city through the end of July — 16 more than the same time period last year. Antisemitic hate crimes makes up nearly two-thirds of the 360 hate crimes investigated in the city this year, officials said.
With Nicholas Williams