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‘Kristallnacht’ in Highland Park, NJ; Man Arrested

NJ Star Ledger

A New Brunswick man was arrested today on charges of smashing windows at five Highland Park stores that were apparently targeted because they are owned by Jewish merchants.

Richard Green, 52, was arrested in at 3 p.m. in New Brunswick and charged with five counts of criminal mischief, all fourth-degree offenses, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said.

Authorities said police are also investigating whether Green was involved in other incidents, including vandalism at the Hillel and the Chabad House on College Avenue on on the Rutgers University campus. A window was broken on each of those buildings Sunday night, officials said.

The vandalism in Highland Park sent shock waves through the borough, which has a large Jewish community.

“The preliminary investigation determined that the shops that were targeted are Jewish businesses that trade in such items as clothing, food and religious items and are owned by Jewish merchants,” Kaplan said in a joint statement with borough Police Chief Stephen Rizco.

Depending on the police investigation, Green could face additional charges, and the criminal mischief counts could be upgraded to a bias crime, Kaplan said.

Owners of several of the vandalized shops today refused to immediately label it a bias crime.

“Everything seems to point to a bias crime. I don’t want to jump to that conclusion. There were other Jewish-owned stores that were not hit,” said Rabbi Edward Prince, owner of Jerusalem Pizza restaurant.

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6 Comments

  • bcc

    i see now that alot of people are asking for cameras to be put everywhere. the gov’t should give them at cost price or something. This is really important.

  • Change you didn-t ask for

    Make no mistake about it. This is DIRECTLY a result of inflammatory rhetoric by Obama, which has inflamed the OWS movement and the increase in anti-Semitic sentiments across the whole of the USA.

    Very worrying.

  • RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG

    Not a hate crime
    A mentally challenged soul
    Who needs help
    rabbi rosenberg

    Mr. Green is a poor Jewish male with a long history of mental illness., it is a shame that his religion and his serious mental illness are not made public. He needs help and perhaps there is a mental institution Jewish people where he can get help. This is the second day that the media intentionally or unintentionally misinform people by omitting critical facts from the story. CHECK THIS OUT. RABBI ROSENBERG

  • MCR

    Rabbi Rosenberg’s comments are accurate. According to many sources, mysteriously not being reported by the media, the person under arrest is a Jewish man who has a history of mental health problems. One of the store owners told me he knows the man, and he even shopped in his store regularly.

    To commenter #2: Way to jump to conclusions.

  • mendel

    they cant be inveatigating if it was involved in the chabad house if they cought him there.