Police: Attack on Florida Chabad House linked to Zohran Mamdani video

A Florida man charged with a hate crime after throwing a brick and shattering a window at a Chabad House was influenced by a video from New York City Council member Zohran Mamdani, in which he harshly attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called him a "war criminal," it emerged yesterday, Saturday night, from a police affidavit.

The suspect, 30-year-old Brighton Leshinger, admitted during his interrogation that he arrived at the Chabad House on July 29 and intentionally threw a brick at it. He stated that "propaganda on social media" had stirred his anger and even declared that he is "anti-Israel."

During the investigation, police examined Leshinger's social media activity. According to the report, the only political content found on his public Instagram account was a video posted by Mamdani on July 21, eight days before the attack. Leshinger reshared the video in the days leading up to the incident.

In the video, Mamdani harshly attacked Netanyahu, stating:

"Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal, the architect of a horrific genocide against the Palestinian people."

He went on to accuse him of killing more than 73,000 people, wounding tens of thousands of children, and attacking hospitals and maternity centers.

Security camera footage shows Leshinger walking barefoot around 06:00 in the morning with a blue towel covering his head. On his way to the synagogue, he picked up a brick from a nearby yard, threw it at the window, and fled the scene.