770 Ramming Suspect Identified, Details Emerge Behind the Incident
by CrownHeights.info
As thousands of Chabad Chassidim gathered in and around 770 Eastern Parkway for Yud Shvat, a lone driver of a black Honda pulled up on the service lane. This is the timeline, details, and emerging information of the ramming incident by 770.
The Incident
Video, released by Crown Heights Shomrim, shows the moments leading up to the incident, when a black Honda sedan pulls up on the service lane of Eastern Parkway. The driver gets out, removes the metal barriers that block vehicular access to the ramp entrance to 770, and asks bochuring standing in front of the driveway to move aside. The bochurim comply, and the driver slowly pulls his car onto he ramp.
Allegedly, bochurim speaking with the man claimed that he said he was with the “Bleacher Company”, likely referring to the bleachers that had been installed for the “Hour with the Rebbe” event that had taken place right before the incident.
Once on the ramp, the driver accelerated forward, slamming into the rear doors of the main shul. When his first attempt to gain entry failed, he reversed and tried again, ultimately destroying the doors, but failing to bring down the securing doorpost.
With Bochurim screaming at him, the driver exited his vehicle, claiming that he had slipped on the ice before being handcuffed and removed by the NYPD officers stationed at 770.
No was injured in the incident.
The Suspect
Reports from well-connected reporters have named the suspect in the incident as Dan Sohail, aged 36, of Carteret, New Jersey.
According to reports gleaned after the incident, Dan has had a history with Chabad and other institutions in New Jersey, including a Chabad House who had him removed and a Yeshiva in which he requested access and was denied.
According to reports, Dan is not Jewish, but had been claiming that he was, even getting a group of bochurim in 770 to put on Tefillin with him weeks prior to the incident.
Intent
At this time, no terror intent has been attributed in this incident. All indicators point to a disgruntled, and perhaps ill person who felt shunned by Chabad, and came to 770 with the intent of doing damage. At present, no intent to harm any person has been reported.
The Aftermath
One of the most serious takeaways from this incident is that of safety and security surrounding 770, a terror target and hotspot for controversy that has almost no security. Past incidents surrounding 770 included a Canadian who set out to commit a terror attack in the building, an incident that should have been a wakeup call, but appears to have been ignored.
Another major outcome was the focus of the Mamdani Administration, with this incident being one of the first serious challenges to the administration’s lack of focus on antisemitism. The incident brought Mayor Mamdani, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, as well as other elected officials to 770 to oversee the oncident.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has announced that she has initiated a civil rights investigation into the incident.
