Yitzhak Shuchat, a white member of a civilian patrol group, and Andrew Charles, the black son of a police officer, came face to face in 2008 in a New York City neighborhood with a history of racial strife. That much is certain.
Six years later, the circumstances of the encounter in Brooklyn remain unclear, even as prosecutors pursue charges against 28-year-old Shuchat alleging he attacked Charles because of his race. Shuchat’s supporters in the area’s Orthodox Jewish community call the move a hate crime investigation gone awry.
Authorities “took a minor incident and made it into a very serious situation,” said state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Jewish. “This could have been resolved a long time ago.”
The case received renewed attention last month, when deputy US Marshals retrieved Shuchat from Israel after he lost a lengthy extradition fight. He pleaded not guilty on July 18 to second-degree assault as a hate crime, attempted assault and other charges and was released on US$300,000 bail put up by Jewish benefactors.
Prosecutors have yet to explain why they are treating the case as a racial incident, Shuchat’s attorney, Paul Batista, said.
In other hate crime cases, there are typically racial slurs or other clear evidence of bias.
Asked in a recent television interview to describe their encounter, Charles responded: “They attacked us, and that’s about it.”
He did not elaborate.
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office declined to comment.
According to police, Charles was walking with a black friend when they were confronted by a white man who pepper-sprayed Charles. Then an SUV pulled up and a passenger — later identified by police as Shuchat — jumped out and hit him with a nightstick.
Authorities concluded Shuchat and the other man were volunteers with the civilian patrol, Shmira, and convened a grand jury to look into the matter — a move criticized by the Jewish community, but welcomed by black leaders.
After learning he was wanted as a suspect, Shuchat fled to Israel through Canada amid claims he could not get a fair trial.
He was indicted on the hate crime charges a few weeks later after prosecutors concluded bias was the only motive.
The defense does not dispute that Shuchat had a run-in with Charles, but it says Shuchat was responding to a radio call reporting that two black men were throwing rocks and cursing at Jews. It also claims Charles was not harmed, despite being taken to hospital.
Community activist Taharka Robinson, who is advising Charles’ family, said Shuchat’s decision to leave the country was telling.
“I don’t believe anyone would flee and go through Canada to get into Israel if they did not engage in an act that injured someone,” he said.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
IN ABSENTIA: The MP for Hampstead and Highgate in London, a niece of deposed Bangladesh prime minister Sheik Hasina, condemned the ‘flawed and farcical’ trial A court in Bangladesh yesterday sentenced British Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq to two years in jail after a judge ruled she was complicit in corrupt land deals with her aunt, the country’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. A judge found Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, guilty of misusing her “special influence” as a British politician to coerce Hasina into giving valuable pieces of land to her mother, brother and sister. Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, was given seven years in prison and considered the prime participant in the case. The trial had been carried out in absentia: Neither Hasina, Siddiq,
RSS