The man accused of stabbing a rabbi outside of a Boston Jewish day school last Thursday reportedly has an expired student visa and lost his legal status on May 14. Khaled Awad was arrested for stabbing Rabbi Shlomo Noginski eight times last week.
According to Fox News, the 24-year-old Egyptian student entered the United States in August of 2019 to attend college. He was arrested last week after pulling a gun on Rabbi Noginski and stabbed him repeatedly after Noginski ran across the street at a park to flee from his attacker.
When police arrived at the scene, Awad allegedly pointed his firearm at police prompting officers to draw their guns and told him to drop his weapon. While he was being restrained by the police, Awad allegedly kicked one of the officers in the stomach.
Awad has pleaded not guilty on charges of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a police officer.
The rabbi, who is a father of 12 children, moved to Boston from Israel to serve the city’s Russian Jewish community. He was released from the hospital after receiving treatment for his injuries.
Rabbi Dan Rodkin, executive director of Shaloh House, wrote on Facebook: "Rabbi Shlomo Noginski is in stable condition and looking forward [to] getting better and resuming his Torah classes.”
We stand with the Jewish community in the wake of yesterday’s violent attack in Brighton. My office is available to provide services to the victim of this act and to connect impacted community members with necessary resources as we all process yesterday’s events. pic.twitter.com/dSO7Id2Bdk
— DA Rachael Rollins (@DARollins) July 2, 2021
Meanwhile, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said her office has yet to label the case as a hate crime as investigations are still in the works. A spokesman for Rollins’ office stated that prosecutors must prove "that a crime is bias-motivated beyond the violent and seemingly targeted nature of the attack" in order to charge a suspect with a hate crime”.
Eric Valiente, a former peer of Awad at the University of South Florida told CBS Boston that he has known Awad to be violent and anti-Semitic. “He would say like all types of Jewish jokes. I thought he was joking at first and then I started to see seriousness in his comments,” Valiente recalled.
A former roommate of Awad, who is Jewish, also told the outlet that he had to move out and obtain a restraining order last fall after Awad attacked him in their shared kitchen.
Awad has previous charges of battery and theft in Florida and was said to have also been sent to a mental health facility. He is currently held without bail and is set to appear in court on Thursday, where they will determine if he is a danger to society.
On the other hand, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has lodged a detainer with the Boston Police Department requesting Awad’s custody to be handed over to them once the criminal proceedings are done.
This comes after an earlier arrest of a suspect who has 42 charges of hate crimes resulting from an alleged 11-day crime spree, including that of vandalizing four synagogues in the Bronx, was released from bail under the bail reform law put in place by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
