NEW YORK – The extradition of a white Orthodox Jewish man to New York City to face hate crime charges over a black man's attack has renewed questions about the case.
Supporters of Yitzhak Shuchat say there's no evidence of racial hatred in a 2008 street encounter he had with Andrew Charles.
Shuchat worked for a civilian patrol group in Crown Heights, a Brooklyn neighborhood with a history of racial strife. Authorities say he confronted Charles and beat him with a nightstick, then fled to Israel.
Shuchat has pleaded not guilty.
The case has stirred emotions in Crown Heights that date to 1991, when street violence exploded after a black child was accidentally hit and killed by a car in a Jewish motorcade. A group of blacks then fatally stabbed a rabbinical student.
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