Stabbing of Jews in New York: Hate crime charges against suspect, previously arrested for attacking a Jew
The FBI and federal prosecutors have filed two hate crime charges against Anna Mochalova, a 32-year-old Russian citizen suspected of stabbing two Jewish men in Manhattan's Diamond District. Mochalova was previously arrested on suspicion of attacking a Jew in Brooklyn. The stabbing weapon has not yet been identified.
A dramatic turn in the stabbing of Jews in Manhattan's Diamond District: The FBI and federal prosecutors in the United States have entered the picture, and the U.S. Department of Justice announced the filing of two federal hate crime charges against Anna Mochalova, a 32-year-old Russian citizen suspected of stabbing two Jewish men one after another on October 21. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. Mochalova, initially arrested by the New York Police Department, has been transferred to federal custody. The most significant discovery in the investigation documents is that Mochalova was already arrested on June 18, 2025, on suspicion of an act of violence against a Jewish person in a Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn. According to an affidavit from an FBI agent, investigators located footage from a police officer's body camera from the previous arrest and identified a thick silver ring on her finger matching the ring seen in footage from the current attack. The attack spree began on October 21, when Mochalova stabbed a Jewish man in his lower back, and then stabbed another man in his right forearm. In one case, she threatened the victim: "Run, I have a gun." Another concerning detail is that investigators still do not know the exact weapon used, and it is estimated to be a needle-like object, but it has not yet been determined if it was a syringe and what it contained.