A Bensonhurst man who allegedly wrote a hateful message on the wall of his Bensonhurst apartment building targeting people from same country as the terrorist who carried out the terror attack in Lower Manhattan last week has been charged with a hate crime, police said.
The 28-year-old Ukranian man allegedly wrote “Go home, Uzbeks” and a similar slur using an expletive on the wall of Bay Parkway building, near Cropsey Ave., according to police. The man was allegedly caught on camera writing the message on the wall just after 10:30 pm on Nov. 1, and he was identified and arrested the next day, just after 6 pm, after the superintendent saw him on film, the Daily News reported. He was charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and making graffiti.
An Uzbek citizen allegedly carried out the deadliest terror attack in New York City since the 9-11 attacks on Oct. 31 when he careened down a nearly mile-long stretch of the West Side Highway in a truck, killing eight people and injuring 12. The suspect, Sayfullo Saipov, was charged with federal terrorism offenses on Nov. 1.
The councilman who represents Bensonhurst condemned the anti-Uzbek graffiti in a Nov. 2 statement, urging the District Attorney’s office to prosecute the incident as a hate crime and calling for Brooklynites to stand together.
“We cannot judge entire groups of people based on the action of one individual with hate in his heart,” said Councilman Mark Treyger (D—Coney Island). “We must strongly reject attempts to divide our community with bias and ostracism. In troubling times, we all need to stand by one another.”
