Suspect Arrested in Stabbing of Rabbi Outside Synagogue in Boston (Update)

MARY CHASTAIN JUL 2, 2021 8:00 AM

The Boston Police Department arrested Khaled Awad, 24, in connection with the stabbing of Rabbi Shlomo Noginski outside a Jewish school.

Police arrested 24-year-old Khaled Awad in connection to the stabbing. WBZ-TV I-Team sources said he was armed with a gun and a knife.“The attacker came to him and pointed a gun at him, and said, ‘Open your car.’ [Rabbi Noginski] gave him the key and said, ‘Here’s the key’. And he said ‘No, you open the car.’” said Dan Rodkin, Executive Director of the Shaloh House.The crime scene extended across Chestnut Hill Avenue, from where the two struggled by the van to the park where the rabbi ran to get away. Awad was quickly arrested by police.

Noginski is in his 50s and father to 12 children.

Noginski told Lubovitch.com: “I am grateful to the Boston Police Department for their rapid response, and relieved that the perpetrator is in custody. I am looking forward to returning to my work as soon as possible.”

Rodkin said they will add more security at Shaloh House for the rest of summer.

The BPD said they expect Awad “to be arraigned in Brighton District Court on charges of Assault and Battery by Means of a Dangerous Weapon and Assault and Battery on a Police Officer.”

The police do not have a motive, but Noginski’s family believes Awad allegedly targeted him because he is Jewish:

Dov Hikind, a former New York state assemblyman and founder of the grassroots coalition Americans Against Antisemitism, told Fox News he spoke with Noginsky’s brother, who said the rabbi was expected to undergo surgery for eight stab wounds. The family believes the rabbi was targeted because he is Jewish, Hikind said.”Based on my conversation with his brother (he) believes the guy wanted to kidnap him,” he said, adding that anti-Israel rhetoric has contributed to a rise in attacks against Jews. “The perpetrator was not interested in his money, not interested in his cell phone, was not interested in anything except to attack this individual.”He specifically singled out members of the “squad,” a group of four congresswomen known for their progressive stance on a variety of issues – Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

Can you blame Noginski’s family? We have witnessed attacks on Jews in New York City for years. We have witnessed a spike in attacks on Jews in major cities after Hamas attacked Israel.

President of the Conference of Jewish affairs Rabbi Aryeh Spero told Fox News: “There is a climate of more than just anti-Semitism. It’s physical attacks with the intent of killing people who are Jewish. Conspicuously Jewish. And that just doesn’t come out of thin air.”

UPDATE (by WAJ)

A 24-year-old native of Egypt is being held without bail after being accused of stabbing a city rabbi “seven or eight times” in a daylight attack some are demanding be treated as a hate crime.That stabbing suspect, Khaled Awad of Brighton, is also being investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and won’t be let out until at least a dangerousness hearing is held July 8, a judge ruled today at his arraignment in Brighton District Court.He’s accused of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer.Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins told the Herald earlier Friday she plans to investigate the vicious attack as a hate crime, and said Jewish communities have become targets for vitriol nationwide.