Stabbing at a rabbi's home is an 'act of terrorism', New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
"This is an act of terrorism. I think these are domestic terrorists. They are trying to inflict fear," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters on Sunday.
He said that in the new year he will come up with measures to punish perpetrators of acts like these as terrorists.
Earlier, Cuomo commented on the attack on Twitter, saying that New York has "zero tolerance for anti-Semitism".
I am horrified by the stabbing of multiple people at a synagogue in Rockland County tonight.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) December 29, 2019
We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism in NY and we will hold the attacker accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
NY stands with the Jewish community. pic.twitter.com/JILUoFXJc9
At least five people were injured when an attacker armed with a machete broke into a rabbi's house in a New York suburb during Hannukkah celebrations on Saturday evening and began stabbing people. The incident took place in Monsey, a town located some 35 miles north of New York City.
The attacker, who has been identified as 37-year-old Thomas Grafton of Greenwood Lake, rushed into the house of Hasidic Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg where some 60 people were attending a candle-lighting ceremony for the seventh night of Hannukah, and started attacking people until he was chased out of the home. He then tried to enter a nearby synagogue but it was barricaded by people who fled there shortly after the attack began. Two of those stabbed in the attack are said to be in critical condition. One of the victims is believed to be the rabbi's son.
