A Williamsburg man allegedly disrupted Ramadan for Muslim worshipers in Bay Ridge, after he repeatedly drove by their mosque blasting Israeli music, law enforcement sources said Friday.
The 20-year-old Chaim Weiss decorated his 2013 Honda with a handful of Israeli flags and pumped up the music as worshipers were inside a mosque at 68th Street and Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge at 4 a.m. July 20, a criminal court document states.
Mohamed Elnashar, executive director of the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge, captured the whole thing on video surveillance, which shows the man driving by at least six times in the flagged ride, the court documents charge.
Weiss allegedly then parked in front of the mosque, which was filled with a large congregation of people who approached and tried to stop him, law enforcement sources said.
Weiss fled the scene and drove back and forth four more times with the Israeli hits playing as the religious ceremony was in session, the sources said.
He then set up shop in front of the mosque again, displaying the Israeli flags on his ride, all while Elnashar read from the Quran – though he had to stop because the music was too loud, the documents show.
According to a criminal court complaint, Weiss allegedly knew the neighborhood was predominantly Muslim and he intended to demonstrate “support for the Israeli people in Israel,” the documents state.
Weiss was cuffed in front of the mosque by Hate Crime Task Force members who responded, the sources said. He later was charged with disruption or disturbance of a religious service, funeral burial or memorial service, and disorderly conduct, the documents show.