Reporting to the Unit Chief and Deputy Unit Chief, our Hate Crimes Unit now includes 20 cross-designated prosecutors, two senior investigative analysts, and a paralegal. The Unit is supported by specially trained staff across multiple areas of the Office, including the Community Partnerships Unit’s Deputy Director for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, investigators proficient in Cantonese, victim services counselors and advocates fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, and an LGBTQIA+ victim services advocate.
Bias-motivated crimes traumatize and inflict fear far beyond the individual. In November 2023, we stood with Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Grace Lee to introduce the Hate Crimes Modernization Act – new legislation that will increase the list of hate crime eligible charges from 66 to 97 and will enhance most sentences. “Hate crimes have profound physical, emotional and psychological effects that jeopardize the safety of New Yorkers and tear at the very fabric of our communities,” said D.A. Bragg.
Notable cases:
- April 2024: We announced the hate crime trial conviction of Gino Sozio for slashing a 22-year-old Muslim-American, while he was out with friends, in an anti-Muslim attack in Midtown on New Years Eve in 2022.
- January 2024: Mohammed Said Othman was sentenced to three years in state prison for a 2021 antisemitic attack on a Jewish man in Times Square. Two other defendants have been sentenced to prison time in this case. Mahmoud Musa, was sentenced to 7 years in state prison on November 21, 2023, and Mohamed Othman was sentenced to 5 ½ years in state prison on December 20, 2023.
- December 2023: Brandon Elliot pleaded guilty to brutally assaulting a 65-year-old woman on a Midtown sidewalk while making anti-Asian statements.
- December 2023: Violence stemming from hate and discrimination will not be tolerated in Manhattan. We announced the indictment of a man who allegedly stalked and punched a 23-year-old Israeli tourist in an antisemitic attack in Times Square.
- October 2023: Lenny De La Rosa was indicted on four hate crime counts for allegedly defacing three synagogues and a Jewish volunteer ambulance. “We will not allow our houses of worship to be violated by hateful acts and we do not tolerate bias and antisemitism, said D.A. Bragg.
- August 2023: Marc Jensen was indicted for allegedly spewing hateful anti-Chinese remarks and physically assaulting an Asian couple in Koreatown as they waited on a sidewalk for an Uber to arrive.
- March 2023: Jarrod Powell was sentenced to 22 years in prison for brutally assaulting Yao Pan Ma, a 61-year-old Chinese immigrant, for no other reason than his race – leading to Mr. Ma’s death eight months after the attack.
- April 2022: We indicted a man who assaulted two Black men in Midtown in October 2021 while saying anti-Black slurs. He is charged with multiple counts of Assault and Attempted Assault as a Hate Crime, as well as Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree.
- November 2022: We indicted a man for a series of bias-related arsons that targeted LGBTQIA+ establishments, including the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in Greenwich Village.
We’re working closely with community partners to increase reporting of hate crimes. We’re also enhancing our language abilities and cultural competency to serve the most targeted communities. And we’re conducting hate crimes trainings for folks across the borough, ranging from law enforcement to schools to religious institutions and more.
