^{New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Nov. 20, 2024. Photo by Vita Fellig.}

By Vita Fellig

In a crowded New York State Supreme Court courtroom in Manhattan, Judge Gregory Carro asked the handcuffed Christopher Brown, clad in a beige jumpsuit and white taqiyah skullcap, if he had anything to share before he was sentenced.

“No sir,” the 23-year-old said. “I do not.”

Just before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Carro sentenced Brown to 10 years in state prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision.

In September, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, announced that his office had reached an agreement with Brown to plead guilty “for possessing a firearm as part of a planned terror attack on the New York Jewish community in 2022.”

Brown was arrested at Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan on Nov. 18, 2022. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officers recovered a knife, a swastika armband and a ski mask from his backpack, the Manhattan district attorney’s office stated on Wednesday.

Bragg said on Wednesday that Brown’s sentencing was a significant punishment that should counter rising Jew-hatred.

“I know that the Jewish community in Manhattan is continuing to face rising antisemitism and violent threats, and I want everyone to know that we are using every tool possible in coordination with our law enforcement partners to keep them safe,” he stated.

According to court documents, Brown expressed support for Nazi ideology on social media and wanted to emulate Brenton Tarrant, who attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019.

Brown admitted in his September plea agreement that he posted  “God wants me to shoot up a synagogue and die” and “gonna ask a priest if I should become a husband or shoot up a synagogue and die,” in November 2022 on social media. He “used social media to express support for Nazi ideology and accelerationism, a form of racially and ethnically motivated extremism,” Bragg’s office said at the time.

He also “discussed getting tattoos of Nazi insignia, including a swastika on his heart,” the Manhattan district attorney’s office stated at the time. He had also purchased a loaded gun in Pennsylvania for $650, per the district attorney.

Elizabeth Berney, director of research at the Zionist Organization of America, thanked the district attorney’s office, the New York Police Department’s intelligence bureau, the MTA Police, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBI.

“We are grateful for the efforts of everyone who prevented Christopher Brown and his co-defendant from perpetrating a disastrous planned attack on a New York City synagogue, and for bringing Christopher Brown to justice today,” she told JNS.

“We hope that Brown’s 10-year sentence will be long enough for him to eradicate his hateful, violent neo-Nazi ideology from his being and to send a message to anyone who would attack or threaten violence against our Jewish community,” she said.

“We urge every law enforcement agency who courageously brought Christopher Brown to justice to deal the same way with the Hamas supporters who are threatening and attacking Jewish students on college campuses,” she added.

Scott Richman, the New York and New Jersey regional director at the Anti-Defamation League, told JNS that the ADL welcomes the sentencing of Brown “for his role in planning an attack on a synagogue in New York City in 2022.”

“The perpetrator was making threats online and was found to have an interest in accelerationism and white supremacist literature. This case underscores the constant threat antisemitic hate poses to Jewish people across the world,” Richman said. “We thank District Attorney Bragg for sending a clear message that antisemitism will not be tolerated.”

Sheldon Fine, vice chair of the West Side Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations, attended the sentencing on Wednesday. “This was an incident that until it’s resolved, there is always going to be anxiety,” he told JNS. “The D.A. came through for the Jewish community and society.”

The Jewish community thanks the district attorney, “and though they can’t always control what the judges do, their vigilance in sustaining the investigation, making sure that we had all the facts extensively and followed through strongly is a big plus for the Jewish community,” he said.

Mitch Silber, executive director of the Community Security Initiative, a project of the UJA-Federation of New York in partnership with the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, told JNS that the sentencing highlights the importance of the organization’s mission.

“CSI’s early detection of this threat and prompt escalation to law enforcement in November 2022 helped avert what could have been a devastating attack,” Silber said. “This outcome highlights the vital role of our partnership with law and federal enforcement agencies, whose swift and decisive action ensured the safety of our community.”

“While justice has been served, this case serves as a stark reminder of the need for constant communal vigilance,” he added.

“We hope this serious sentence provides a signal that all citizens in New York must be protected and that hatred has no place in New York City,” David Pollock, a senior adviser to CSI, told JNS outside the courthouse.

Source: JNS