Psychiatric Report Finds Antisemitic Monsey Attacker Unfit to Stand Trial, Hearing to Be Held This Month

January 4th, 2021

Awake Goy

Grafton Thomas, the suspect in an antisemitic stabbing attack in Monsey, New York, appears in court. Photo: Twitter screenshot.

A hearing will be held this month to determine whether the man who stabbed five people, killing one, in an antisemitic attack in Monsey, New York is fit to stand trial.

Grafton Thomas attacked a Hanukkah celebration in 2019 with a machete. He was later found to have antisemitic materials in his home and on his computer.

Though four of the victims survived, 72-year-old Josef Neumann died of his wounds several months later.

Thomas faces federal hate crimes charges, as well as separate state charges, including attempted murder.

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New York NBC affiliate Channel 4 reports that Thomas was recently assessed as mentally incompetent to stand trial because he suffers from schizophrenia. The evaluation was made at a federal mental health facility in Missouri, where Thomas is being held.

Thomas’ lawyers have held that the attack was not a hate crime and that Thomas is not an antisemite, and seek to have him remanded to the Bureau of Prisons for treatment.

Following the psychiatric report, US District Judge Cathy Seibel ruled that there will be an evidentiary hearing on Thomas’ competence and whether he should continue to be hospitalized until he is competent to stand trial.

Federal prosecutors continue to assert that Thomas should ultimately stand trial, saying he “is alleged to have committed an extremely serious offense, and there are reasons to believe that he can be restored to competency.”

If the hearing finds that Thomas is not competent, he could be committed to a mental health facility for years.

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