Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon announced that she has instructed criminal prosecutors in the Civil Rights Division to open a civil rights investigation into an alleged violent attack on the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn.
Shocking video posted on X, shared by Dhillon, shows a vehicle repeatedly ramming into the side doors of the headquarters in the Crown Heights neighborhood. Significant damage could be seen to the building's entrance.
The driver repeatedly backed up and drove forward into the doors.
"I have instructed our criminal prosecutors in @CivilRights to open a civil rights investigation into this violent attack," she wrote on the platform late Wednesday night.
A car just drove into the side doors of 770 at Chabad Headquarters in Brooklyn. pic.twitter.com/5PTCmrjLTv
— Yossi Farro (@FarroYossi) January 29, 2026
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At one point, the driver emerges from his vehicle and shouts, "It slipped!"
The Chabad Headquarters issued a statement following the attack, clearly rejecting any theory that the driver's actions were an accident.
"Earlier tonight, a car crashed into a side entrance at Chabad HQ at 770 Eastern Parkway. The building encompasses one of the most important synagogues in the world," they wrote. "From video and witness accounts, it seems to have been intentional."
Yaacov Behrman, head of public relations at the headquarters, told CNN that he believes the timing of the incident is also suspect.
“Today is a significant day on the Chabad calendar, with thousands of young rabbinical students in the neighborhood,” Behrman said. "We believe that it was not a coincidence that he chose today to drive his car into the synagogue."
The driver was taken into custody.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani denounced the attack at a news conference.
NYC Mayor @ZohranKMamdani visited 770 Chabad HQ tonight in solidarity after the car-ramming attack, noting that today is Yud Shevat the Chabad holiday marking the anniversary of the previous Rebbe And the day Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson became Rebbe at this very place 75… https://t.co/TKVZl8CBWT pic.twitter.com/kXExNW8WRs
— Yossi Farro (@FarroYossi) January 29, 2026
“I am relieved that no one was injured in this horrifying incident. This is deeply alarming, especially given the deep meaning and history of the institution to so many in New York and around the world,” Mamdani said.
“Any threat to a Jewish institution or place of worship must be taken seriously,” he continued. “Antisemitism has no place in our city.”
The NYPD has also opened a hate crime investigation over the incident.
This attack comes shortly after heightened concerns over rising antisemitism in New York City, including a subway incident in December where Orthodox Jewish men from Chabad Lubavitch were allegedly threatened with antisemitic slurs.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin (D) plans to announce a task force to combat antisemitism on Thursday.
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