By Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) – A hate crime indictment was filed against a man in New York City on Monday in what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg described as an anti-Muslim attack where the suspect abused and assaulted the victim.

David Grinblat, 34, was indicted for repeatedly punching a 25-year-old Muslim man in Midtown, while making anti-Muslim remarks, Bragg said in a statement on Monday. Grinblat could not immediately be reached for comment. The victim was not identified in the statement.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Human rights advocates have warned about rising threats against American Muslims, Arabs and Jews since the eruption of Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza that followed an attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Oct. 7.

KEY QUOTES

“David Grinblat attacked a man because of his perceived religion and national origin and spewed racist, anti-Muslim words at him,” Bragg said. The incident took place on Aug. 5 and the suspect was arrested on Aug. 8.

The suspect spat on the victim, called him a “terrorist,” said he wanted “death to Muslims” and punched the victim in the face several times leading to a cut in his lips along with “redness, swelling and pain to his face and ear,” Bragg added.

The suspect was charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with “two counts of Assault in the Third Degree as a Hate Crime and one count of Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree,” Bragg said.

CONTEXT

Other recent alarming U.S. incidents include the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Illinois last October, the February stabbing of a Muslim man in Texas, the November shooting of three Arab college students in Vermont and the attempted drowning in May of a 3-year-old Muslim girl.

This month, a former Cornell University student was sentenced to 21 months in prison for posting online threats against Jews.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)

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