NEW YORK, Oct. 18 -- Two men were charged Wednesday under New York's Hate Crime Law Wednesday for allegedly attempting to torch a New York City synagogue, the first such changes in New York.
Mazin Assi, 21; and Mohammed Alfaqih, 18; both of Yonkers, N.Y., were indicted for attempted arson as a hate crime and criminal mischief as a hate crime.
Attempted arson carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison but as a hate crime the maximum punishment is 15 years. A 15-year-old was also accused and was to be tried in Family Court.
Last week, bottles containing a flammable liquid were thrown at the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel in Riverdale, N.Y., breaking a glass door.
New York's hate-crime law, which went into effect this month, increases penalties if crimes are found to be motivated by a bias against race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age or disability.
The New York City incident was part of a recent rash of crimes against temples. On Saturday, a fire at a synagogue in St. Paul, Minn., destroyed a temporary wooden structure erected to celebrate the Jewish festival of Sukkot. Accelerant was found to have been used in a fire last Friday, at Temple Beth El, in Syracuse, N.Y. Also last week, a fire gutted a Harrisburg, Pa. synagogue under construction on Yom Kippur.NEWLN:
