Federal Hate Crime Charges Filed in Diamond District Attacks on Two Jewish Men

Federal prosecutors have charged Anna Mochalova, 32, with two hate crimes following the October 21 attacks on two visibly Jewish men in Manhattan’s Diamond District.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the charges on Wednesday, October 28. Mochalova was transferred from state custody to federal custody and is scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger.

According to the federal complaint, the attacks took place on October 21, 2026, when Mochalova allegedly targeted two Jewish men in separate incidents within a short period of time.

At approximately 5:50 p.m., the first victim, a visibly Jewish man wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish attire, including a black hat, black suit, white shirt, and tzitzit, was walking along West 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

According to prosecutors, the victim noticed Mochalova following him and speaking in Russian. She allegedly approached him and stabbed him in the lower back with a sharp object that felt like a needle prick before continuing toward Sixth Avenue.

Shortly afterward, Mochalova allegedly approached a second Jewish man and another individual standing at the northeast corner of Sixth Avenue and West 45th Street, approximately two blocks south of the first incident.

Both men were wearing yarmulkes. According to the complaint, Mochalova repeatedly bumped into the second victim before stabbing him in the right forearm with a sharp object.

The victim, who speaks Russian, recalled Mochalova telling him, in substance, “Run away, I have a gun.”

Prosecutors further allege that Mochalova asked the other individual whether he was Jewish. When he responded that he was Muslim, she reportedly apologized to him before fleeing northbound on Sixth Avenue.

Mochalova is charged with two counts of committing hate crimes, each carrying a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said federal prosecutors would continue pursuing cases involving violence motivated by hatred, describing the alleged attacks as an assault on the right to express one’s religious identity safely in public.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch also condemned the alleged attacks, stating that the incidents had struck fear in the Jewish community. FBI officials said they would continue working with law enforcement partners to address hate-motivated violence.

The investigation involved the FBI and NYPD, with the prosecution being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.