Mamdani Comes Under Fire After Man Storms NYC Synagogue, Punches Woman in the Face

Mamdani Comes Under Fire After Man Storms NYC Synagogue, Punches Woman in the Face

A Bronx man is facing hate crime charges after disrupting Shabbat services at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue and assaulting two people as he was being escorted from the building Friday night. He punched a 63-year-old woman in the face and spat on and head-butted a security guard. His actions were captured on the synagogue’s livestream.

Tonight a man disrupted Shabbat services at Central Synagogue, punched a 63 y/o woman in the face, and attacked a security guard.

Jews in New York have spent years warning that there is a target on their backs. This time it was live-streamed. pic.twitter.com/v6NwmL1QpM

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) August 15, 2026

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a statement, “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.”

She added that Larry Montes, 46, “faces two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime.”

In the video below from NBC News, congregants can be heard reacting to a loud noise that sounded like a gunshot shortly after Montes entered the synagogue. It’s unclear what the sound was, but, thankfully, he was not armed.

Two attendees later told NBC they thought it was a gun. One said, “He was just ranting and raving and yelling. He looked like a maniac. I wanted to go undercover. Who the hell knows what he’s going to do?”

“But we’re resilient, and we go on. [The] services continued,” she added.

NBC reported that the 63-year-old woman whom Montes struck was treated for minor injuries.

Man charged with assault, hate crimes after allegedly disrupting Shabbat services at NYC synagogue
The NYPD later identified the suspect as Larry Montes, 46, of the Bronx, and said he was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a… pic.twitter.com/D2EOT3rKjm

— NYC News 24 🗞️ (@NYCNews24) August 15, 2026

The New York Post reported that during Montes’ late Saturday-night arraignment on hate crime charges in Manhattan Criminal Court, prosecutors said he told police after the attack that Jews were “swine.” He also reportedly yelled, “f*** the Jews.”

According to the Post, Assistant District Attorney Ali Fazal said:

Montes allegedly admitted to cops that his actions were religiously motivated, and called those worshiping inside the synagogue ‘Swine.’

In addition to having animus towards Jewish individuals, the defendant admitted to having racial animus towards black people.

The prosecutors alleged that Montes “admitted to acting ‘on instinct’ and said ‘he was mad.'”

Fazal said: “As people tried to peacefully worship, the defendant interrupted the service by screaming and charging towards the bimah, where the Rabbi was presiding over the service.”

He “grabbed and threw two religious candles and candle holders, causing them to break.” [The Post notes these artifacts are valued at approximately $10,000 each.]

The Post reported that although prosecutors requested bail of $50,000 cash or $150,000 bond, Judge Janice Chen set bail at just $10,000 cash or $30,000 bond.

Needless to say, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani claimed to be “horrified by the assault.” The antisemitic mayor, who recently spent weeks searching for a way to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his upcoming visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, wrote on X:

Every New Yorker must be able to observe their religion without fear of violence. This despicable act has no place in our city, and our administration will do everything in our power to keep Jewish New Yorkers safe.

Please spare us.

I am horrified by the assault at Central Synagogue during services today. I can only imagine the pain and fear an attack like this, during Shabbat services, causes for the congregation and for Jewish New Yorkers across our city.

Every New Yorker must be able to observe their…

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) August 15, 2026

He followed up with a second post on Saturday in which he declared, “Our administration will always stand against bigotry in all its forms. We will use every tool at our disposal to confront antisemitism and keep Jewish New Yorkers — and all New Yorkers — safe.”

The NYPD has arrested Larry Montes, a 46-year-old Bronx man, in connection with this attack. He has been charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime, one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime and other charges.

I am grateful to Central Synagogue’s security team for… https://t.co/cvcCQV93p6

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) August 15, 2026

Zineb Riboua, a research fellow at the Hudson Institute, quickly pointed to a remark Mamdani made at the 2023 Democratic Socialists of America national convention that struck a very different tone: “When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.”

During a panel discussion titled “Socialist Internationalism: The Solution to the Crisis of Capitalism,” Mamdani argued that “activists should make the Palestinian cause ‘hyper-local’ by connecting it to domestic political struggles in the United States.”

Also Mamdani: "When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it's been laced by the IDF." https://t.co/HIV1IxFkCl

— Zineb Riboua (@zriboua) August 15, 2026

September, 2023.

Zohran Mamdani: "We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it's been laced by the IDF." pic.twitter.com/sr8pQyKvCq

— MAZE (@mazemoore) October 28, 2025

This toxic remark resurfaced last October during his campaign. [I covered it here.]

Given that New York City is home to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel, a revelation like this so close to Election Day should have been a game-changer. But it didn’t appear to hurt him too much, if at all.

Mamdani can issue all the statements he wants condemning antisemitism, but Jewish New Yorkers have every reason to judge him by more than the carefully crafted words his office releases after an attack. His long record of hostility toward Israel, inflammatory rhetoric linking the IDF to alleged NYPD brutality, and efforts to target Netanyahu are part of the record, too.

Earlier this month, seven months into his mayoralty, it was reported that anti-Jewish hate crimes are up 8.5% from the same period last year. Mamdani did not create the antisemitism that has plagued New York City for years, nor can he be blamed for the actions of every disturbed individual who targets Jews. But a mayor helps set the moral tone of a city. For New York’s Jewish community, assurances that his administration “will always stand against bigotry” ring increasingly hollow when measured against both his past rhetoric and the reality they are confronting on the streets.

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