Posted to Chabad News, Crime on

Cops: No Terror Link in 770 Stabbing

Police said the stabbing that occurred early Tuesday morning in 770 Eastern Parkway was not believed to be connected to terrorism. An attorney representing suspect Calvin Peters’ family says he was bipolar.

From the Associated Press:

Calvin Peters, 49, could be seen on amateur video waving a knife inside the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday after an attack on 22-year-old Levi Rosenblat.

Police said the stabbing was not believed to be connected to terrorism. But it shook the Jewish community, still reeling over an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue by two Palestinian cousins last month that left four worshippers and an officer dead.

At least one witness said he heard Peters repeatedly saying, “Kill the Jews!” according to Rabbi Chaim Landa, a Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman.

Police were still interviewing witnesses but quoted Peters as saying instead, “I’m going to kill all of you.” The case was not immediately classified as a possible bias crime.

Peters had a documented history of mental illness and had been arrested 19 times since 1982, most recently in 2006 for drugs, police said.

Attorney Jeffrey A. St. Clair, appearing at the Peters family’s front door in Valley Stream, on Long Island, described him as bipolar. St. Clair said the family had no warning of an outburst.

Click here to read the full story at the Associated Press.

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16 Comments

    • Shimon Shak

      Don’t really think they said his mental disorder justifies what he did…just that it might have been the cause of the incident as opposed to an attempted terrorist act or a hate crime.

    • Kluger

      Bipolar is not a cause or even an explanation for someone walking into 770 and killing a random person.

      The fact is that people with mental illness are actually LESS likely to commit violent crimes than the general population.

      This is just a poor excuse for the police to play down antisemitism.

  • swm

    they always will play down terrorism connection of any sort.
    However, besides that (*), if he in fact was bi-polar, is there proof for that in his medical record files at hospitals and his psychiatrist? If he was bi-polar, then there was some gross mismanagement of Mental Health. This has to be checked into further. The Mental Health field is so deficient, there is so much the public does not know about people with Bi-Polar, depression, Personality disorders. It is time for everyone to have more information about that. But back to the topic…..it is important to dig further into this to understand what happened.

  • !?

    Just because someone is mentally ill doesn’t mean ots not a hate crime or terror attack. Do they assume that suicide bombers are not mentally ill?! This guu chose a shul and a jew to perform his crime not any random guy on the street

    • @ bipolar

      what gave the police the right to shoot him? His preplanned attempted murder and assault on a police officer!
      Wave a weapon at a cop and he deserves to be shot DEAD. Now he won’t be arrested another 19 times (sic!), won’t collect $millions in sec8, food stamps, welfare and “compensation”, or incarceration costs.
      Just because there is a claim of mental difficiency does not mean he can pose a threat to society. I’m glad Peter’s dead, although I OFFER CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY.

    • Seriously??

      He had plenty of opportunity to drop the knife. Then he does, picks it up & waves it while he is approaching the officer. What was HE supposed to do, wait to be slashed too? Are you crazy?

      At that point there was no conclusive proof Peters was mentally ill. And if there was – you think people who genuinely hear voices or see aliens or who are bipolar are capable of reason when they are in the full throes of a break? The guy had already slashed the bochur. I know, you would have approached him and asked nicely for the knife. Yeah, right.

  • just because they say

    just because they haven’t found a link does not mean none exists… I know plenty of BiPolar people and so called mental illnes and they don’t do anything to harm others. Being bipolar doesn’t explain his actions.

    There is more to the story, we just don’t know it yet.

  • Yisroel

    if he did have bi polar and was not taking his medication then it could be argued that he is not culpabale for his acts, as in the din of an oines. But it’s irrelevant either way.

    • @ Yisroel

      if he did have bi polar and was not taking his medication, then his therapist, family etc should be held accountable. You don’t leave an incompetant sick man to decide to take his meds or not. If he doesn’t want meds, commit him so he doesn’t hurt others.
      P.S. if you have a family member who is playing games with physic meds, DO SOMETHING about it, before they C”V hurt themselves or others.

  • mental care is flawed

    the mental care system is very much flawed. People aren’t getting the help they need. This is an extreme example of it, but millions of people are living their lives with depresion, anxiety, insercurity, etc… and the services out there are simply not enough… how can we expect someone with a mental illness to keep taking their medication and seeing their doctors regularly?

  • Fed Up

    This case should not have been classified as a possible bias crime! It should have been classified as a bias crime instead. Mental illness is not an excuse for repeating hate speech!