The suspect accused of assaulting two Muslim teens outside a mosque in Brooklyn this weekend has been taken into custody and charged. Sunset Park resident Christopher Vallaro, 31, turned himself into police at the 72nd precinct station house this morning. He has been arrested and charged with assault in the third degree.
However, Vallaro will not be charged with a hate crime, despite pleas from community leaders. Asked about the charges, an NYPD spokesman told us, "It's fair to say that investigators sought to determine whether his assault was bias-motivated, or bias in nature."
The attack took place around 1:15 a.m. Sunday in front of Muslim Community Center of Brooklyn at 53rd Street near Third Avenue in Sunset Park. One of the victims, 16-year-old Ahmad Emrech, was taking a break from late night prayers when he was beaten by the assailant, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who released a statement about the attack on Facebook. Vallaro was reportedly heard shouting slurs at the teens, including, "You f**king terrorist," and, "You Muslims are the cause of all the problems of the world."
An NYPD spokesman told the News that those derogatory statements "were made in the heat of the moment and were not a motivating factor."
Emrech sustained a concussion, cuts, bruises, and severe swelling to his eye, head and face. He was taken to Lutheran Hospital for treatment. The second victim, who police say is 17-year-old, also suffered from a swollen black eye.
You can see surveillance video and followup photos of the attack in the CBS report below.
Police have a slightly different take on what happened that evening: they say that Vallaro's girlfriend was sleeping in a car outside the mosque when the teens were hitting on her ("attempted to interact with her"); the dispute then became physical.
Mohamed Bahe, the director of the mosque, told Buzzfeed this was "a blatant cover-up," and non-profit group Muslims Giving Back decried the decision not to categorize the assault as a bias crime: "One of the victims heard the attacker shout "Terrorist!" while being punched to the ground. This is absolutely a HATE crime."
