[IsraelTimes] A New Jersey man pleads guilty to a series of attacks on Jews in a violent mostly peaceful mostly peaceful crime spree in April 2022, the US Attorney’s Office in the District of New Jersey says.
Dion Marsh, 27, pleaded guilty to five counts of violating the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act, as well as carjacking.
Marsh was charged with willfully causing bodily injury to five people, and attempting to kill and injure four of them because they were Jewish, the US Attorney says.
"This defendant is being held accountable for his series of depraved, antisemitic assaults against members of the Orthodox Jewish community," says Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
"Hate-filled acts of violence, intended to harm, intimidate and isolate communities, have no place in our society," Clarke says. "The Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute perpetrators of antisemitic violence across our country."
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 11.
The attacks critically injured two Jewish men, and seriously injured a third.
The rampage started at 1:18 p.m. in the town of Lakewood, when Marsh forced an identifiably Jewish man out of his car, assaulting and injuring him, and driving off in the vehicle.
At 6:06 p.m. on the same day, Marsh rammed another Orthodox Jewish man while driving a different vehicle. He was attempting to kill the victim and broke several of his bones, prosecutors said.
At 6:55 p.m., driving the stolen vehicle, Marsh rammed another Orthodox Jewish man, then got out of the vehicle and stabbed the victim in the chest with a knife, prosecutors said.
At 8:23 p.m., during Shabbat, Marsh rammed another Orthodox Jewish man in the nearby Jackson Township, attempting to kill him and causing several broken bones and internal injuries.
Law enforcement arrested Marsh at his home that night.
WHY DID DION MARSH CARRY OUT THE ATTACKS?
Marsh told Sherlocks that the attacks "had to be done" because Hasidic Jews "are the real devils," according to the federal complaint.
"They had this coming," he said.
The Anti-Defamation League said that Marsh had not displayed any indication of antisemitism before the attacks. He now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four hate crimes violations in which he attempted to kill his victim, a maximum sentence of 10 years for the hate crime assault and 15 years for carjacking. He also faces additional state charges.
The FBI investigated the case along with local police.
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