NYPD makes arrest, recommends hate crime charges after two anti-Semitic incidents in Brooklyn

A 20-year-old man is facing hate crime charges after allegedly beating two Jewish teens and yelling anti-Jewish statements at several men in two incidents that took place in Brooklyn over the weekend, according to a criminal complaint.

Danial Shaukat, 20, was charged by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office with two counts each of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime and other charges in an initial attack. Shaukat was also charged with three counts each of menacing as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment for the second incident, according to the complaint.

The Legal Aid Society is representing Shaukat and had no comment other than to confirm its client was arraigned. CNN could not immediately reach Shaukat’s family for comment.

The first incident occurred at around 7:45 p.m. Saturday, when two teens, ages 18 and 17, were approached by two men who “demanded that the victims repeat anti-Jewish statements,” the NYPD said in a statement Sunday. One of the men was Shaukat, according to the complaint.

When the victims, who are Jewish, refused, the attackers began punching them in their heads and one of the men put the 17-year-old in a “rear chokehold,” the NYPD said. The alleged attackers then fled in a blue Toyota Camry, according to police.

Hate crime charge in a second incident

Shaukat, who was arrested Tuesday, was also charged with a hate crime in a second incident that happened minutes after the first and during which he allegedly yelled anti-Jewish statements at several Jewish men outside a synagogue, according to the complaint.

Shaukat and two other individuals were in a parked car in front of a synagogue and yelled “We’ll kill all the Jews” and spat on one of the men crossing the street in front of their car, according to the complaint.

The men escaped into the synagogue and locked the door, the NYPD said.

According to the complaint, Shaukat and another individual in the car got out and banged on the front door of the synagogue.

The New York Police Department is also recommending hate crime charges against two other men in the same incident.

Ashan Azad, 19, and Haider A. Anjam, 20, are facing charges of aggravated harassment as a hate crime and harassment. Anjam is also facing a charge of menacing as a hate crime, according to the NYPD.

Azad and Anjam have not been charged in the beating incident at this time.

CNN reached out to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office to find out what charges Azad and Anjam will ultimately face. CNN was not able to immediately identify attorneys for Azad and Anjam and a spokesman for the Legal Aid Society would not confirm whether they were representing him at this time.

A woman who identified herself as a sister of Anjam told CNN on Wednesday that “whatever he did was wrong.” CNN could not immediately locate family members for Azad.

Shaukat was arraigned Wednesday and bail was set at $2,000, according to Helen Peterson at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.

The incidents were among several reported across the US last week as tensions flared over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. Last Thursday, Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza agreed to a ceasefire, after more than a week of conflict left hundreds dead, most of them Palestinians.