A Manhattan judge let one of two men accused of plotting to attack New York City shuls continue to walk free after prosecutors asked for the second time in two weeks that he be held in jail without bail.
The two suspects who allegedly planned to attack New York City shuls were arraigned.
CBS reports that police say that 21-year-old Christopher Brown, of Long Island, was found with an 8-inch knife and high-capacity magazine when he was arrested Friday night in Penn Station. Also arrested with him was 22-year-old Matthew Mahrer, of West 94th Street in Manhattan, whose family is reportedly Jewish, including his grandfather who is a Holocaust survivor.
Criminal complaints against both men cite Twitter messages that warned early last week, “Big moves being made on Friday,” and then Thursday, “Gonna ask a priest if I should become a husband or shoot up a synagogue and die.”
Brown’s family told CBS2 that he is schizophrenic. “He’s not a bad person. He’s just very sick, you know, and he needs help,” Brown’s sister said.
Mahrer, who faces charges for criminal possession of a weapon, reportedly has bipolar disorder.
