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(JTA) — A collection of arson assaults on Jewish establishments in Massachusetts in 2019 was probably perpetrated by a person who as soon as wrote, “We should kill all Jews.”
However whereas the person was underneath investigation for home terrorism on the time of the assaults and police collected proof that might tie him to the arsons virtually instantly, he was not recognized as a suspect till months later. By then, he was in a coma from which he by no means recovered.
Federal prosecutors revealed these particulars Wednesday with the announcement of an indictment of the suspected arsonist’s brother, who stands accused of obstructing the investigation by taking proof of his brother’s antisemitic beliefs to Sweden, the place he was residing.
Alexander Giannakakis was arrested Wednesday close to Stockholm by Swedish legislation enforcement and faces extradition to the US. He had labored as a safety guard for the U.S. Embassy in Sweden.
The FBI believes that Giannakakis’ brother was the arsonist behind three fires at two Chabad Jewish facilities and a fourth case of arson focusing on a Jewish-affiliated enterprise in Could 2019. The identify of the suspected arsonist will not be being launched as a result of he’s useless.
The rabbi of one of many Chabad facilities stated he’s grateful for legislation enforcement and thanked God for having been unhurt by the arson assault.
“We’ve regarded on the incident as an impetus to develop as a result of we consider that one of the best ways to fight antisemitism is to do much more, to unfold extra mild on this planet, and extra love on this planet,” Rabbi Mendy Krinsky of the Chabad Jewish Middle in Needham, Massachusetts, informed the Jewish Telegraphic Company. “That’s one of the best ways. Somewhat mild dispels plenty of darkness.”
Julie Flaherty, performing police chief of Arlington, Mass., addresses a information convention on the city’s police station as Rabbi Avi Bukiet, second from left, appears on, Could 17, 2019. (Penny Schwartz)
Prosecutors are characterizing the arson assaults as antisemitic acts of home terrorism. In response to the indictment, Giannakakis, 35, lied to investigators and hid proof that might tie his brother to the crime, together with a T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika, a pocket book with a swastika drawn inside and a bottle of cyanide.
The suspected arsonist had written antisemitic screeds, scribbling Nazi slogans and the statements: “A world with out Jews, is a world with out scum. One thing we must always intention for,” and “We should kill, we should kill all Jews. That’s merely important.”
For Robert Trestan, the New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, the revelations in regards to the probably motivation behind the assaults validate fears that Jews have about rising antisemitism in the US.
“The indictment is but once more one other reminder that antisemitism is greater than an idea,” Trestan, informed JTA. “It motivates folks to commit acts of violence which can be life-threatening to Jews across the nation. If they’re taking the menace posed by antisemitism extraordinarily significantly then so ought to we, by prioritizing safety, elevating consciousness of the menace that antisemitism poses, and being unrelenting in combating all types of antisemitism.”
On the time of the arsons, the brother was underneath investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Process Drive as a part of a probe into a bunch suspected of “planning legal exercise in help of their racially motivated, violent extremist ideology,” the indictment stated.
However the FBI and native police didn’t join the person to the arsons till a lot later, apparently as a result of state legislation enforcement officers didn’t end processing fingerprints discovered on the scene of one of many arsons for 9 months.
The primary fireplace happened on the Chabad Middle for Jewish life in Arlington, Massachusetts, on Could 11, 2019. 5 days later, on Could 16, one other fireplace began there, adopted by a blaze on the Chabad Jewish Middle in Needham.
Native police and the FBI launched an investigation, and the fires attracted widespread information protection. For months, the investigation yielded only a few clues, with no witnesses, fingerprints or video surveillance footage.
However unbeknown to investigators, legislation enforcement already had the important thing to the case in an proof locker.
On Could 26, there had been one other arson, this time at a enterprise. An eyewitness confronted somebody suspicious who then fled from the scene whereas discarding a can of acetone, which is extremely flammable. Police took the acetone can into proof and submitted it for fingerprint evaluation. Nobody in legislation enforcement related this fourth arson to the earlier three, in keeping with the indictment.
It took till February 2020, some 9 months later, for state police to course of the fingerprints and establish who left them. As soon as that particular person was recognized and the FBI realized he was a goal of a separate home terrorism investigation right into a hate group suspected of planning terrorist assaults, he turned the prime suspect in three Chabad arsons.
However by then, the suspect was in a coma. He had been hospitalized in November 2019 for causes that the indictment doesn’t specify. He died in September 2020.
Investigators questioned Giannakakis and later realized that he had lied to them and hidden objects belonging to his brother that confirmed he harbored a hatred of Jews, in keeping with the indictment. Probably the most critical cost Giannakakis faces carries a sentence of as much as 20 years.
“The investigators adopted all leads on this case, actually following the case around the globe,” Arlington Police Chief Julie Flaherty stated in an announcement. “These crimes shook our neighborhood to its core, and it’s my honest hope that the worldwide teamwork of American and Swedish authorities that has solved this collection of hate crimes will present some measure of solace to the victims.”
Penny Schwartz contributed reporting.
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