The man accused of committing back-to-back stabbings on the Upper West Side — plunging a knife into an Asian man’s back and a screwdriver into a Jewish man’s chest — pleaded not guilty to felony hate crime charges Tuesday in court in Manhattan, where prosecutors alleged they had uncovered evidence of his antisemitic bias.
Wearing beige prison garb over a white T-shirt to his Manhattan Supreme Court arraignment, Raul Morales, 51, pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder as a hate crime, two counts of assault as a hate crime, two counts of attempted assault as a hate crime, and related charges. The charges carry up to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said that, through search warrants, they had uncovered antisemitic sentiments in text messages on Morales’ cell phone.
When asked by reporters for details, DA Bragg, who attended the hearing, declined to comment on what the text messages said, saying only that his office would vigorously litigate the “heinous antisemitic incident” in court.
“Since the initial arrest, my office has continued to thoroughly investigate this matter and uncovered additional evidence alleging the defendant specifically harbors antisemitic views,” Bragg said later in a statement.
“This case is a prime example of how hate crimes make all of us less safe. I want to make clear to all Manhattanites that we will stand with and support you no matter your background, ethnicity or religion.”
Sheldon Fine, an Upper West Side chaplain, attended Tuesday’s proceedings in solidarity with the victims.
“It was extremely important because of how horrendous this attack was,” Fine said, adding that he visited the Asian victim after he was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital, where surgeons removed a knife from his back.
“I saw him in the hospital,” Fine said. “He had a terrible situation, stabbed in the back.”
Morales, who authorities previously said may be dealing with mental illness, has been held on Rikers Island without bail since his July 23 arrest following the attacks that occurred within a four-block radius on the Upper West Side. The Legal Aid Society, which is representing him, declined to comment.
Prosecutors allege Morales first targeted a 57-year-old Asian-American man wearing a baseball cap walking on W. 84th St. near Central Park West, stabbing him in the back and yelling, “Allahu Akbar!”
Less than 15 minutes later, according to charging documents, Morales thrust a screwdriver into the chest of Moshe Yezhak Grunhaus, a 50-year-old Jewish man wearing a kippah near W. 86th St. and Amsterdam Ave, as he was leaving Tisha B’Av services at The Jewish Center, a prominent Upper West Side synagogue.
A UPS delivery worker who followed Morales to his apartment building allegedly also heard him yell, “Allahu Akbar!” Morales was arrested at his apartment inside a NYCHA complex on Amsterdam Ave. near W. 89th St. after heavily armed NYPD Emergency Service Unit cops stood outside his door for around an hour.
With Barry Williams