Vandal defaces Gravesend synagogue
BY ROSE ADAMS
Police arrested a man for
allegedly defacing a Gravesend
synagogue in a vicious anti-
Semitic crime that will force
the house of worship to spend
thousands of dollars in repairs,
said the temple’s director.
“We’re a poor shul. We
don’t have the funds to replace
our glass,” Susan Altman told
Brooklyn Paper. “I don’t know
how we’re going to get out of
this.”
Osman Butt, 25, allegedly
grabbed an Israeli fl ag from
outside the Shore Parkway
Jewish Center and smashed it
through the synagogue’s windows
at about 9 pm on Sunday,
according to police.
The assailant then broke
into the 26th Avenue religious
building by Harway Avenue
and destroyed several menorahs,
an elevated platform
known as a bima, and symbols
of the Sukkot Jewish holiday,
which runs from Oct. 2 through
Oct. 9, according to Altman.
The building’s custodian
rushed to the scene after hearing
the commotion, where he
found the intruder wrapping
himself in the Israeli fl ag and
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trying to break the fl agpole,
he told police. Butt then continued
to throw objects on the
ground and shout anti-Semitic
remarks, Altman said.
“It was something like ‘I
hate Jews, Jews die,” she said.
The custodian called police,
who apprehended Butt inside
the Orthodox synagogue
at 9:11 pm, according to a police
spokesman.
Offi cers slapped the defendant
with six charges, including
burglary, criminal
mischief, and criminal trespassing,
according to court
documents.
Authorities also deemed
three of the charges hate
crimes, which increase the
penalties that defendants face
— including Butt’s burglary
charge, which would typically
be a Class D felony with a maximum
of seven years in prison,
but instead becomes a Class C
and carries a maximum sentence
of 15 years.
Butt, who lives fi ve blocks
from the synagogue, was released
without bail, according
to Helen Peterson, a spokeswoman
for the Brooklyn District
Attorney.
Altman said that the attack
has sent shockwaves throughout
the community, and has
left congregants like herself
afraid to enter the house of
worship.
“A lot of our members are
concerned, we’re scared,” said
Altman, adding that she’s afraid
to go to the synagogue alone.
“I’m here today, and I can’t stop
looking out the window.”
According to NYPD statistics,
the 60th Police Precinct,
where the Sunday night intrusion
occurred, has only seen
two other suspects arrested
for anti-Semitic hate crimes
since the beginning of 2017 —
leaving Altman and her fellow
worshipers shocked at the
unusual nature of the hateful
vandalism at their quaint synagogue.
“The temple is like a hidden
secret, it’s in the middle
of a residential area,” Altman
said. “It’s very quiet. There’s
never any crime around
here.”
Now, the temple’s leaders
will enhance the building’s
security in an effort to make
members feel safer for their
return to religious services.
“We had outside cameras
and now and we have to get
inside cameras,” Altman told
Brooklyn Paper. “I don’t know
what’s going to happen on Saturday,
if members are going to
come back.”
A Gravesend man allegedly attacked a well-hidden local synagogue in an apparent hate crime. Google Maps
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