Two attacks. Almost a continent apart. Attacks on religious people.
In New York, a man with a history of mental illness attacked Jews celebrating Chanukah. It happened on the seventh day of the holiday, at the end of the Sabbath, at the home of a rabbi, next door to a synagogue. These Hasidic Orthodox Jews wear distinctive dress and seem out of the American mainstream. Those attacked live in the New York suburb of Monsey a village of about 18.000 people named after the Munsee Indians.
In Texas, a man with a criminal record attacked Christians in a Church during services on the next day. The Sunday Sabbath was observed by devoted Christians who dress and look like ordinary Americans. Those attacked were attending church in the Fort Worth suburb of White Settlement, Texas, a town of about 16,000 people named because it was the sole location settled by whites in an area filled with Indian villages.
The New York attacker brought a long knife, a machete. He injured five people, one who will probably not recover, one other seriously. Those attacked fought back. With furniture. They threw furniture and whatever else they could find at him. The attacker fled in his car. One of those attacked took a picture of the license plate. New York City police found him, identifying the car’s license plate.
In Texas, the attacker brought a gun. He shot and killed two churchgoers. The Church’s protection task force led by a firearms instructor shot and killed the attacker within a few seconds of his first shot. The attacker has been identified as from nearby River Oaks. One of those killed was from River Oaks. The other was from Fort Worth.