Police say security staff detained him and no one was seriously injured
Police said Montes disrupted Shabbat services at Central Synagogue on Friday night before security staff escorted him outside. The Bronx man faces two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime, among other charges, Tisch said.
“As synagogue security was escorting him out, he struck a member of the congregation, damaged synagogue property, and then spit at and head-butted a member of the security team,” Tisch said in a statement.
A police sergeant working as a paid security detail at the synagogue immediately took Montes into custody, Tisch said. No one was seriously injured.
Mamdani called the assault during the livestreamed service “horrifying.” The mayor also said, “Every New Yorker must be able to observe their religion without fear of violence.”