A man accused of attacking a woman and a security guard at a New York City synagogue has been charged with federal hate crimes, prosecutors have said. Larry Montes, who is already facing state-level hate crime charges, was charged in Manhattan federal court.
Authorities allege that Mr Montes struck a 63-year-old woman, causing a cut to her lip and a forearm injury, as security attempted to remove him from Central Synagogue. He is also accused of spitting at and head-butting a security team member, and damaging synagogue property.
Mr Montes faces two federal counts of committing hate crimes and one count of damage to religious property resulting in bodily injury, according to Manhattan federal prosecutors. The incident reportedly took place after 6pm on Friday as Shabbat services began, and was visible on a livestream of the services.