“Religious Agnostic” Rutgers Student Arrested For Masterminding Synagogue Firebombings
Posted by Jammie on Mar 02, 2012 at 9:21 pm
Back in January there was a string of attempted firebombings of temples in North Jersey which were largely ignored by the media. Then one suspect was arrested and the story disappeared. Well, today the “brains” behind the attacks was revealed.
Nineteen year old Aakash Dalal was the brains behind a string of attacks that terrorized the Bergen County Jewish community between December and January, police alleged on Friday.
Aakash Dalal, a Lodi resident and student at Rutgers University, is the second man arrested in connection to the attacks, which began as petty vandalism and took a violent turn with the firebombing of two synogogues last month.
Another 19-year-old Lodi man, Anthony M. Graziano, is accused of wielding the Molotov cocktails that were thrown into the window of the Congregation Beth El temple in Rutherford. But police say Dalal, Graziano’s childhood friend, was behind the scenes, prodding him along.
But don’t worry, folks. Dalal isn’t a radical Muslim, or so we’re told.
Dalal, whose academic status at Rutgers is unclear, was described as a religious agnostic. It remains unclear where he and Graziano allegedly developed anti-Semitic views. The two were not members of any known hate groups, Molinelli said.
In the alleged exchanges, the two discuss the media coverage of the attacks, fueled by the attention but disappointed with the outcome of the Paramus attack. On Jan. 8, Graziano allegedly told Dalal that he “finally found an all wood synagogue.”
It was the Congregation Beth El temple in Rutherford, where authorities allege Graziano flung Molotov cocktails into the windows of the upstairs residence while Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his family slept on Jan. 11.
“In hindsight, it makes sense that they are two [suspects],” Schuman told The Record Friday. “The person they caught today is more the mastermind behind the attacks, and Graziano is the pawn carrying out the attacks.”
Molinelli said the two also mocked law enforcement. In one of the exchanges released Friday, Dalal allegedly tells Graziano, “Molinelli is going to lose his [expletive] job.”
Dalal supposedly belongs to a group at Rutgers named the Rutgers Young Americans for Liberty.
Federal investigators said they were aware that Dalal is part of a college student activist group called Rutgers Young Americans for Liberty, but one federal official stressed that the group is in no way tied to the alleged acts.
“As we stand here today, we don’t have any reason to believe that they are part of any organized group, and we don’t have any reason to believe any student group was in any way linked to the attacks,” said Doug Veivia, the supervisory special agent of New Jersey’s FBI, which assisted in the investigation. “It’s an evolving case, but at this point, we feel pretty strong about it.”
Oddly enough, a search for YAL led us here. Otherwise, there doesn’t seem to be anything there, other than we have a couple of punks facing a long stretch.
YAL is a Ron Paul forum:
ronpaulforums.com
jammiewf.com
Former Lodi man arrested in synagogue firebombing case
Friday, March 2, 2012 Last updated: Saturday March 3, 2012, 10:29 AM
BY MONSY ALVARADO AND STEPHANIE AKIN
STAFF WRITERS
The Record
Aakash Dalal and Anthony Graziano — two teenagers who met in middle school in Lodi — were partners on a mission of hate: When Graziano tried and failed to set fire to a Paramus temple, Dalal exhorted him to do better next time, authorities said Friday.
POLICE PHOTO
Aakash Dalal, of Lodi.
Eight days later, a Rutherford temple was firebombed.
The two 19-year-olds used instant messages and emails to share ideas on creating an effective Molotov cocktail and what “all-wood” temple would be their next target, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Friday afternoon in announcing Dalal’s arrest at a packed press conference. Graziano was arrested for his alleged role in the attacks in January.
“Both of them were clever, were calculated in how they were planning this,” Molinelli said. “This was not a haphazard put-together-at-the-last-minute type of arrangement. This was something that Mr. Graziano worked very hard on and shared.”
Chilling messages between Dalal and Graziano
Emails and instant messages between Aakash Dalal and Anthony Graziano, provided by the Prosecutor's Office:
8:56 p.m., no date provided
AG: We are going to put these Jews in their [expletive] place. Molinelli is going to lose his [expletive] job … and I'm going to laugh.
Jan. 4, 8:46 p.m.
AD: Yo.
AG: I'm ready to be released.
AD: It didn't burn well.
AG: Well it made the news.
AD: That was a joke. It was pathetic.
AG: The fire burned, but I'm guessing the cold weather took it out.
AD: Basically no damage. It did nothing. You haven't proven yourself.
9:18 p.m.
AG: So how much damage would be acceptable?
AD: Serious damage. Or total burnage.
Jan. 8, 12:09 a.m.
AG: I finally found an all wood synagogue. Congregation beth el Rutherford.
AD: Where is the all wood gog located?
AG: 185 Montross avenue, Rutherford, nj. Now I know why you want me to do this. Ultimate dedication.
AD: They're definitely watching.
12:18 a.m.
AG: All wood, it's in a suburb area. I could easily throw the molotovs from the side.
AD: Make sure they break through the windows.
8:58 p.m., no date provided
AG: Police lack any suspects but believe Rabbi Schuman was the target and more than one person was responsible for the firebombings.
8:58 p.m.
AG: no [expletive].
8:58 p.m.
AG: the rabbi was the target?
undated, but after the Rutherford attack at Temple Beth-El
AD: Wow. Nice. I'm looking at the house now. Nice [expletive] throw.
AG: I'll be making a comeback. "Ball of fire through the window."
AG: Dude, that ADL jew is hilarious. he looks like he's about to roll over and cry.
AD: "Stalked out for two weeks."
AD: this just shows how pathetic the government is. They likely have 40+ people working on the case. And they can't figure out a thing.
AG: They suck. I disposed of everything.
Dalal now joins Graziano behind bars at the Bergen County Jail, facing what Molinelli called “an extraordinary number of years in prison” for what authorities described as a “narcissistic” and “self-created desire” to be part of some sort of an imagined hate group. In disclosing Dalal’s arrest, Molinelli also announced that the entire string of arson and graffiti attacks that alarmed and terrorized synagogues in the county over the winter had been solved.
“Mr. Graziano had more of a desire to impress Mr. Dalal. Mr. Dalal was the teacher, Mr. Graziano was the student, and Mr. Dalal would tell Mr. Graziano what he had to do … to satisfy the requirement, to fill the need,” Molinelli said of their personal relationship.
Dalal, 19, a former Rutgers University student who now lives in New Brunswick, is accused of helping to plan two attacks carried out by Graziano: the firebombing at Congregation Beth El in Rutherford on Jan. 11, and a Jan. 3 arson at the Congregation K’Hal Adath Jeshurun in Paramus.
He also is accused of spray-painting, with Graziano, anti-Semitic and white supremacist graffiti at The Reconstructionist Temple Beth Israel in Maywood and Temple Beth El in Hackensack in December.
Dalal became a person of interest as early as Jan. 21, after authorities were made aware of a comment posted on a Jewish publication’s website, Molinelli said. He described Dalal as the “instigator” of the fire bombings, who encouraged Graziano.
“We know that Graziano was developing and improving on his methodology, starting with spray-painting, and went to minor use of Molotov cocktails, to a significant use of Molotov cocktails,” he said. “…ŸIt was Mr. Dalal that directed him how to make it, how often to throw it, and how to throw it in a way that caused the most damage.”
The prosecutor also said Graziano — charged with nine counts of attempted murder among other charges — was doing the paperwork to acquire a gun, “and we were very, very concerned about what would have happened if he would have gotten that gun.”
Molinelli on Friday showed messages he said Graziano and Dalal exchanged after the Jan. 3 fire at the Paramus synagogue, as well as messages on Jan. 8 when Graziano allegedly decided the Rutherford temple would be his next target.
“All wood. It’s in a suburb area. I could easily throw the Molotovs [gasoline bombs] from the side,” Graziano allegedly wrote.
Dalal reportedly responded: “Make sure they break through the windows.”
The Rutherford firebombing was the most violent: One of several incendiary devices entered the second floor of the temple, which also serves as the residence for Rabbi Nosson Schuman and his family. The bomb landed in the rabbi’s bedroom, while he and his wife were sleeping. Schuman suffered burns to a hand while extinguishing the blaze, but his family was able to flee the premises safely.
Afterward, Dalal allegedly applauded Graziano in an electronic message, which elicited the following response: “I’ll be making a comeback. Ball of fire through the window,” Graziano allegedly wrote.
Other messages referenced articles about the incidents.
Molinelli said the messages show disregard for government, law enforcement and Jewish leaders. But he said that the two are not members of any anti-Semitic group and that he did not know why they had such hatred toward Jewish people.
Molinelli said the investigation into the attacks continues but that there is no other person of interest at this time — “I don’t anticipate right now anything further based on the facts that we have,” he said.
Dalal has been charged with aggravated arson, conspiracy to commit aggravated arson, bias intimidation and criminal mischief. Bail was set at $2.5 million. He is to be arraigned Monday at 10 a.m. at Central Municipal Court.
Graziano will be charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief and bias intimidation for the graffiti, in addition to the charges against him released in January. Prosecutors have also alleged that Graziano had been stashing gasoline and bottles outside the Jewish Community Center of Paramus in preparation for another firebombing on Jan. 7.
Just before 7:15 p.m. Friday, Dalal’s parents returned to their two-story beige house, offering a quick “no comment” as they hurried inside. The house remained dark afterward.
A young man answering the door at Graziano’s home Friday evening said the family also had no comment on the day’s events.
The Rutherford rabbi and his wife said Friday they were not surprised by the second arrest.
“In hindsight, it makes sense that they are two [suspects],” Rabbi Nosson Schuman said. “The person they caught today is more the mastermind behind the attacks, and Graziano is the pawn carrying out the attacks.”
On Friday night, he briefly mentioned Dalal’s arrest to about a dozen worshipers during the synagogue’s Sabbath service. Afterward, a few in attendance discussed Friday's revelations.
“He [Dalal] isn't well,” one worshiper said. “He had his entire life in front of him.”
Etzion Neuer, acting director of the New Jersey regional office of the Anti-Defamation League, said the new arrest will allow for closure in what he called “one of the most disturbing chapters in the recent history of Bergen County.”
“It’s reassuring to know that another person involved with this crime has been apprehended. On the other hand, it’s disturbing that another person is infected with the same type of vile hatred,” he said.
Mark Zettler, president of the Beth El Congregation in Hackensack, said his temple was delighted at news of the arrest, but it would not completely assuage the concerns that surfaced after the attacks.
“Unfortunately, hatred of Jews and lots of people doesn’t stop with this one incident,” Zettler said. “It’s hard to find closure with any of this because this one person or two people have been caught. If people think twice about doing this it will have been worth it.”
Staff Writers Chris Harris, Joel Schectman, Matthew McGrath, Kim Lueddeke, Deon J. Hampton and Shawn Boburg contributed to this article.
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