World Courant
NEW YORK — 13 members of the Hasidic Jewish group pleaded not responsible Wednesday to costs stemming from their alleged function in a dispute over an unlawful tunnel constructed underneath a historic synagogue in Brooklyn.
The defendants, a lot of whom are worldwide college students from Israel, appeared in court docket in Brooklyn on Wednesday on costs of reckless endangerment, felony mischief and obstruction of governmental administration. They got a restricted safety order, which prevented them from finishing up any excavations or adjustments to the constructing. They’re additionally not allowed to have contact with a neighborhood rabbi.
Prosecutors say the defendants — who ranged in age from 19 to 26 — had been concerned in a combat Jan. 8 within the basement of the worldwide headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch, a motion of Orthodox Judaism. The dispute erupted after the invention of an underground passageway connecting 4 buildings inside the well-known Jewish advanced.
Supporters of the tunnel mentioned they had been finishing up the desires of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the previous Chabad chief and one among Judaism’s most influential leaders, who spoke of increasing densely populated worship earlier than his dying in 1994. Some members of the Chabad group imagine that Schneerson remains to be alive and that he’s the Messiah.
When Chabad leaders took motion to seal the tunnel, characterizing it as a villainous act of vandalism, a gaggle of younger males fought again, tearing the synagogue’s picket siding and refusing to go away the dusty passageway. Their protest escalated when police arrived, resulting in a chaotic scuffle and greater than $1,500 in property injury, based on court docket information.
Not one of the males charged within the brawl had been accused of digging the passage, which authorities described as a linear tunnel 60 ft (18.3 meters) lengthy and eight ft (2.4 meters) vast. Along with the 13 individuals who pleaded not responsible on Wednesday, 4 others are anticipated to be charged once they return from Israel within the coming weeks.
An investigation by the Ministry of Buildings discovered that the tunnel, which has since been full of concrete, compromised the soundness of a number of buildings across the spiritual advanced, resulting in abandonment orders at 4 buildings.
A two-story constructing subsequent to the synagogue remains to be underneath an evacuation order because of the removing of fire-separating supplies, a constructing division spokesperson mentioned.
Lawyer for the defendants, Levi Huebner, didn’t reply to a request for remark Thursday. He beforehand mentioned his shoppers suffered from “a mix of a little bit of naivete and unintentional good ideas.”
Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesperson for the Chabad-Lubavitch motion, mentioned in a textual content message: “We pray that they may see the error of their methods and atone for the hurt they’ve brought on.”
13 males have pleaded not responsible for his or her function within the Brooklyn synagogue tunnel combat
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