A rabbi, out for a walk Monday morning in Wheaton, Maryland, was struck by a man swinging a wooden stake.
Montgomery County police arrested the suspect and charged him with a hate crime.
Police said the unidentified rabbi was walking on the sidewalk on Arcola Avenue, near Kemp Mill Road, a few minutes before 10 a.m., when he was approached by a man who hit him with the wooden stake, then left the area.
The rabbi suffered minor injuries.
Police found the suspect, 47-year-old Junior Michael Reece, nearby, and took him into custody.
Reece, of no fixed address, was charged with felony assault, as well as misdemeanor assault, and an additional misdemeanor which says a crime was committed “because of another’s race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or national origin.”
According to a police spokeswoman Casandra Tressler: “Statements that the suspect made after the arrest, the location of the assault, and the attire of the victim are the reasons for this being investigated as a hate crime.”
In an initial hearing on Tuesday, Reece was ordered held without bond and to undergo a competency evaluation before a bond hearing next week.
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