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The former college roommates of the man suspected of stabbing a Boston rabbi described him as a "violent" anti-Semite in an interview.
Police have identified Khaled Awad, 24, as the suspect who stabbed Rabbi Shlomo Noginski eight times last week outside the Shaloh House, a synagogue and school that had a children's day camp in session at the time of the attack, according to WBZ, a local CBS station based in Boston.
"He was very much anti-Semitic. He would say like all types of Jewish jokes. I thought he was joking at first and then I started to see seriousness in his comments," one former roommate told WBZ.
Awad was not always violent and studied chemical engineering at the University of Southern Florida, his former roommates told the outlet. While the suspect's prejudices became evident early on, his unnamed roommates said, the violence progressed over time until it ultimately severed friendships.
Khaled Awad is led into court while arraigned on charges in the stabbing of a rabbi near a Jewish day school, in Brighton District Court in Boston on Friday July. . (Mary Schwalm/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
"We were friends, to be honest with you," another roommate said. "I’m Jewish. And he knew that since I moved in."
That roommate told WBZ that Awad attacked him in the fall of 2020 in their shared kitchen, which is when he moved out and reportedly got a restraining order against Awad.
"He disgusted me at that point," one of Awad's former friends told the outlet. "I wanted nothing to do with the guy. At this point, I was a little scared of him. I was scared of what he was capable of because I realize he was a very dark person."
BOSTON RABBI STABBED OUTSIDE SYNAGOGUE, SUSPECT IN CUSTODY
Noginski moved to Boston from Israel to serve the city's Russian-speaking Jewish community, Chabad.org reported.
The rabbi was sitting on the front steps of the building when the suspect approached him and drew a gun. Awad allegedly told Noginski to take him to his car and attempted to force him inside, at which point Noginski tried to give Awad his keys, but the suspect refused the keys and continued to force him into the car, Dan Rodkin, executive director of the Shaloh House, told WBZ.
The crime scene extended into a nearby park. Awad apparently stabbed the rabbi eight times before police arrested him, according to the outlet.
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The suspect was taken into custody and the victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening wounds, police previously told Fox News. A photo circulating on social media purportedly shows the rabbi covered in blood. Fox News has not independently confirmed the authenticity of the photo.
Awad faces battery and theft charges in Florida and previously spent time in a mental health facility in the state. He is currently being held without bail until a hearing on July 8, WBZ reported.
While authorities said the case was not being investigated as a hate crime, the attack came amid a rise in anti-Semitic sentiment fueled by increasing tensions in the Middle East. Several incidents of Jewish people being attacked in various cities across the country went viral as Israeli forces and Hamas, the governing body of the Gaza Strip engaged in back-and-forth rocket attacks and airstrikes.
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Rabbi Aryeh Spero, the president of the Conference of Jewish Affairs, told Fox News Thursday's attack was not isolated. He cited recent assaults on Jews in Los Angeles and other cities.
"There is a climate of more than just anti-Semitism," he told Fox News. "It's physical attacks with the intent of killing people who are Jewish. Conspicuously Jewish. And that just doesn't come out of thin air.
Fox News' Louis Casiano and Andrew Murray contributed to this report.
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