[IsraelTimes] Judge says Dan Sohail, who told investigators he was seeking to connect with his ‘Jewish heritage,’ needs mental health treatment and doesn’t exhibit any hatred toward Jews
The man who repeatedly rammed a car into the Chabad Hasidic movement’s world headquarters in New York City earlier this year was sentenced on Wednesday to time served.
Dan Sohail, 36, pleaded guilty to damaging religious property in May.
Sohail slammed his car into the revered religious site in January, causing widespread alarm.
He was initially charged with a hate crime, but later told Sherlocks that he was seeking to connect with his "Jewish heritage."
An investigation found that Sohail had made outreach to Jewish groups ahead of the incident and had mental health problems.
The judge overseeing the case at Brooklyn federal court said Sohail needed mental health treatment and did not exhibit any hatred toward Jews.
Sohail was sentenced to time served. He has been incarcerated for six months and will be released next week.
The judge in the case, Eric Vitaliano, ordered Sohail to pay $19,000 in restitution.
Vitaliano criticized the Department of Justice for seeking a harsher sentence, which prosecutors hoped could serve as a wider warning to those who might attack Jewish interests amid a dramatic rise in hate crimes against the Jewish population.
"This is a sad tale," Vitaliano said.
Defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg told the judge in court papers prior to the sentencing that Sohail was battling depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatizing childhood when he carried out the attack even as he "desperately sought belonging and understanding through his exploration of Judaism."
She said Sohail attended the Chabad he eventually attacked and "found the rabbinical students there warm and welcoming."
Eisner Grynberg said Sohail "danced with them" and followed their instructions to visit Israel, but he became erratic and extremely anxious after he returned to the United States and was "begging" members of the Chabad to assist him.
Sohail did not speak at sentencing, but he thanked the judge at the end of the proceeding.
The crash occurred on the 75th anniversary of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson becoming the leader of the Lubavitch movement and prompted immediate concern in the city. Schneerson died in 1994, but remains a revered figure globally. There has been a near-constant police presence around the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters for years.
The site was at the epicenter of the Crown Heights riots in 1991, when Black residents of the neighborhood attacked Jews after a child was killed by a car traveling in Schneerson’s motorcade. In 2014, a disturbed man entered the synagogue and stabbed a rabbinical student, wounding him, before being rubbed out by police.
[CMP] Announcement. By special authorization, the CMP is pleased to announce the future availability and sale of surplus M14 rifles. Prior to sale, the rifles will be modified to be permanently and irreversibly semi-automatic rifles. The modified semi-automatic M14s will be fully compliant with CMP enabling legislation authorizing the transfer and sale of military surplus .30 caliber rifles.
Details. The CMP anticipates first order fulfilment in the late 2026 to early 2027 timeframe. More details will be published on the M14 order submission process, pricing, limits and sales channels (mail order and physical stores) at a later date. Proceeds from the sale of these and other historic firearms allow the CMP to teach firearms safety and marksmanship, conduct competitions, and provide scholarships and youth programs, nationwide.
Background. Designed by John C. Garand, the M14 is the direct descendant of the M1 Garand rifle. It is a 7.62 rifle officially adopted as the U.S. Army’s service rifle in 1957. The Civilian Marksmanship Program is singularly authorized to modify these rifles and make them available for sale to eligible US Citizens.
[FoxNews] Many have already been trained in driving heavy equipment/tractor trailers. They speak/read English. They do not have divided loyalties. Win-Win
[Breitbart] The Trump administration has banned imports of foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, citing national security concerns. The move is seen as action against China.
“I am pleased that the FCC has now added foreign produced advanced robotics and power inverters to the FCC’s Covered List,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement this week.
The FCC Chair added that the commission took these actions in an effort to “secure America’s critical supply chains.”
“Following President Trump’s leadership, the FCC will continue to do our part to secure America’s critical supply chains and, with today’s action, the FCC is acting in lock step with our national security agencies to do just that,” Carr said.
The devices in question have now been added to the FCC’s Covered List, which has been updated to include two new categories of “advanced robotic devices.”
The banned products are defined as mobile robots — such as humanoid robots and quadruped robots — as well as connected power inverters produced in foreign countries.
These foreign-made products, the FCC said, “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.”
The FCC noted it is allowed to add products to the Covered List “only at the direction of national security authorities.”
“In other words, the Commission cannot update this list on its own and is required to implement determinations that are made by our national security agency experts,” the federal agency said.
Currently, China dominates the market in humanoid robots, with analysts estimating that Chinese-made humanoid robots account for around 85 percent of the global market share, according to a report by the Associated Press.
“We must protect our country by keeping out Chinese robots with backdoors that share sensitive data with the CCP,” Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), chair of the House Select Committee on China, said in a Tuesday statement.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responded by declaring it will take “all measures necessary” to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses, according to multiple reports.
“Protectionism does not make the U.S. more competitive, and it will only hurt the interests of U.S. companies and consumers,” Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson, said at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
