Hate crime case resurrects racial wounds in Brooklyn
Yitzhak Shuchat, a white member of a civilian patrol group, and Andrew Charles, the black son of a police officer, came face to face in 2008 in a neighborhood with a history of racial strife — that much is certain.
But six years later, the circumstances of the encounter in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn remain murky, even as prosecutors pursue charges against 28-year-old Shuchat alleging he attacked Charles because of his race. Shuchat’s supporters in the neighborhood’s Orthodox Jewish community have reacted with dismay over what they call a hate crime investigation gone awry.
Authorities “took a minor incident and made it into a very serious situation,” said state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Jewish. “This could have been resolved a long time ago. It makes absolutely no sense.”
The case received renewed attention last month when deputy U.S. Marshals retrieved Shuchat from Israel after he lost a lengthy extradition fight. He pleaded not guilty July 18 in a Brooklyn court to second-degree assault as a hate crime, attempted assault and other charges and was released on $300,000 bail put up by Jewish benefactors.