{"id":1004062,"date":"2026-08-16T08:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T08:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1004062\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T08:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T08:15:16","slug":"nyc-synagogue-attacker-larry-montes-admitted-crime-was-religiously-motivated-held-on-bail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1004062\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC synagogue attacker Larry Montes admitted crime was religiously motivated held on bail"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hateful lunatic who stormed into a Manhattan synagogue<\/a> during a Shabbat service Friday\u00a0told cops that Jews were \u201cswine\u201d after the unhinged attack, prosecutors said as he was ordered held on bail late Saturday.<\/p>\n

Larry Montes, 46, was arraigned on hate crime charges just before midnight\u00a0in Manhattan Criminal Court, where Judge Janice Chen set bail at $10,000 cash and $30,000 in bonds over the objection of the Manhattan DA\u2019s office, which asked for $50,000 cash and $150,000 in bonds.<\/p>\n

After the sick rampage at the Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue, Montes allegedly\u00a0admitted to cops that his actions were religiously motivated, and called those worshiping inside the synagogue \u2018Swine\u2019 and \u2018Fake Jews,\u2019\u201d ADA Ali Fazal said.<\/p>\n

Larry Montes was dragged out of Central Synagogue after allegedly barging into a Shabbat service on Aug. 14, 2026. X\/StopAntisemites\/<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to having animus towards Jewish individuals, the defendant admitted to having racial animus towards black people,\u201d the ADA said at the hearing.<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old also admitted to acting \u201con instinct\u201d and said \u201che was mad,\u201d prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

The Bronx native was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime,\u00a0two counts of aggravated harassment\u00a0and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime Friday evening.<\/p>\n

Montes allegedly barged into Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue around 6 p.m. Friday during a Shabbat service and unleashed violent chaos.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs people tried to peacefully worship, the defendant interrupted the service,\u201d Fazal said, by \u201cscreaming\u201d and charging towards the \u201cbimah, where the Rabbi was presiding over the service.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bronx man was charged with two counts of assault as a hate crime and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime and will be arraigned Saturday. Facebook\/Larry Montes<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Montes then \u201cgrabbed and threw two religious candles and candle holders, causing them to break,\u201d valued at around $10,000 each.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the rabbi attempted to retreat from the attack,\u201d Montes continued to \u201cterrorize\u201d the worshippers, the ADA argued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 46-year-old assailant \u201cintentionally struck a 63-year-old worshipper\u2019s face, causing her to sustain the laceration on her lip and fall to the ground,\u201d Fazal said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore exiting the building, the defendant turned his attention away from the worshippers onto the security guard\u2026a 65-year-old African American man,\u201d the ADA added.<\/p>\n

He also allegedly yelled \u201cf\u2013k the Jews,<\/a>\u201d sources said.<\/p>\n

The alleged attack took place at Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue and East 55th Street on Friday around 6 p.m. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n

Judge Chen issued orders of protection\u00a0for both the congregants and the security officer\u00a0of the synagogue who tried to protect the candles and helped escort Montes out of the building.<\/p>\n

In a statement to The Post, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said Friday\u2019s attack at Central Synagogue \u201cis not just a crime; it is a chilling reminder of the vulnerability that has shadowed Jewish life for generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Jews in New York, the sanctuary of the synagogue is meant to be a refuge, not a place where faith and fear are forced into uneasy proximity,\u201d the statement said in part.<\/p>\n

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Prosecutors said Montes has prior criminal history from June 2026 and June 2024 that included stealing headphones at Best Buy where he \u201cbrandished a knife\u201d when a security guard tried to stop him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Montes\u2019 public defender argued that his criminal history related to misdemeanors and that he participated in a program and \u201ccame to over 20 appearances for almost every month, for two years, on that case.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is due back in court on Aug. 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hateful lunatic who stormed into a Manhattan synagogue during a Shabbat service Friday\u00a0told cops that Jews were…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1004063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,12648,11307,281,4219,43556,5249,5248,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,188711,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":["post-1004062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-antisemitism","tag-arrests","tag-court","tag-crime","tag-hate-crimes","tag-manhattan","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-synagogues","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117104196409603072","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}