Crown Heights

Four men to face trial for Brooklyn synagogue tunnel brawl

January 15, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff
City inspectors and police officers outside the Brooklyn borough, N.Y., headquarters of the Chabad movement, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. The building was evacuated after a tunnel was discovered. AP Photo/Jake Offenhartz
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CROWN HEIGHTS — FOUR MEN ACCUSED of damaging the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights during a brawl over an unauthorized tunnel in January 2024 have rejected plea deals and will stand trial for felony criminal mischief charges on April 28, reports the Associated Press.

16 arrests followed the altercation, which arose from efforts to seal a makeshift tunnel dug without permission. The unauthorized passage reportedly destabilized nearby buildings and has since been filled with cement. The defendants face seven-year sentences. Twelve other individuals have pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the affair; six on Monday and six previously.

The case has sparked debate within the Chabad community. Some claim the digging efforts fulfilled the wishes of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late Chabad leader, who expressed a desire to expand the 770 Eastern Parkway headquarters before his death. Chabad representatives condemned the alleged actions, calling them “lawless and violent.”

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