The man accused of stabbing two people on the Upper West Side on Thursday is charged with multiple hate crimes, police said on Friday.
Raul Morales, 51, was arrested Thursday after the stabbings, which took place several blocks apart, according to police. Officials said Morales apparently yelled “Allahu Akbar” before stabbing an Asian man with a knife and a Jewish man with a screwdriver. Police said Friday Morales is charged with attempted murder and assault as a hate crime, along with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
Police previously said they caught Morales at an apartment on the 11th floor of a NYCHA building on Amsterdam Avenue and West 88th Street. Multiple residents of the building — including the man who Morales was staying with — said they were shocked by the allegations.
Neighbor Carlos Ramos said he’d frequently see Morales standing outside the building, especially during the summer. He said Morales would nod his head and say hi, even once to Ramos’ dog. Ramos said he was never violent or hateful, including to diverse groups of people who walked past the building.
“I was shocked when I see that thing happened. Maybe he just lost it,” Ramos said. “He was a lonely person all the time.”
Around midday Friday, a group of police officers arrived to search the apartment where Morales and his roommate stayed.
Several Jewish elected officials spoke out against the attacks on Friday, indirectly blaming Mayor Zohran Mamdani for fueling antisemitism through his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani has described the attacks as “hateful and despicable” and said they have no place in the city.
