New York: homeless man who slashed Muslim victims claimed he was ‘fighting terrorism’

A homeless man slashed three Mott Haven workers with glass shards in 9/11-fueled hate crimes against Muslims, police sources said yesterday. Alejandro Gonzalez, 19, claimed he was “fighting terrorism” when he attacked three Middle Eastern men in two stores, sources said.

The first assault took place at 9:30 p.m. on June 6, when Gonzalez confronted Adam Zandan in a bodega on Courtlandt Avenue and cut the victim’s face, court documents allege. A day later, the attacker walked into a pizza parlor on East 158th Street and sliced Salem Salim across the forehead, then slashed Bilal Alsayedi on the right arm as Alsayedi came to Salim’s aid, the documents state.

The victims were treated for non-life-threatening wounds. Gonzalez was arrested on June 8.

New York Post, 22 June 2012