Allahu Akbar Stabbings Upends Jewish Neighborhood

A man stalked Manhattan’s Upper West Side in broad daylight, allegedly screaming “Allahu Akbar” as he stabbed two strangers blocks apart.

Story Snapshot

Police arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales after two stabbings near Central Park on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Victim and witness statements say the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
One victim is a 57-year-old Asian man and the other a 50-year-old Jewish man; both are hospitalized in stable condition.
The NYPD is investigating the stabbings as a possible hate crime, but police say mental health may also be a factor.
Investigators have found no known link between Morales and either victim so far.

Suspect Charged After Two Broad-Daylight Stabbings

New York City police arrested Raul Morales, 51, after two men were stabbed in separate attacks on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The stabbings happened in broad daylight near Central Park, just blocks apart. Police say Morales attacked a 57-year-old Asian man first, then a 50-year-old Jewish man soon after. Both victims are now in stable condition at area hospitals.

New York City Mayor and Governor Kathy Hochul both condemned the attacks. City leaders are already calling it what appears to be a targeted assault, even as investigators work to nail down the exact motive behind the violence.

Witnesses Say Attacker Shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said victim and witness statements place the same chilling detail at both crime scenes. “According to victim and witness statements, the suspect yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during both attacks,” Tisch said. Multiple outlets, including the Times of Israel, reported the same account from police sources, and one witness told reporters the phrase came right before the attacker stabbed her friend in the chest.

This is not the first time this phrase has preceded an attack on innocent bystanders. Similar attacks have happened in France, Spain, and Switzerland in recent years, where attackers shouted the same words before striking victims with knives. Conservatives have long argued that pretending these patterns don’t exist does nothing to protect innocent Americans.

Hate Crime Investigation Underway

The NYPD says it is evaluating whether the stabbings meet the legal definition of a hate crime. Officials point to the victims’ backgrounds and the alleged shouted phrase as reasons to consider that angle seriously. Authorities described the attacks as unprovoked, with the suspect choosing his targets seemingly at random on a public street in the middle of the day.

Police have not found any prior connection between Morales and either man he is accused of stabbing, nor any link between the two victims themselves. That gap leaves open real questions about exactly why these two men were targeted, even as the shouted phrase points toward a bias-driven motive that investigators cannot yet confirm with hard evidence.

Mental Health Considered as Possible Factor

Commissioner Tisch also said mental health may have played a role in the attacks, and other police sources gave the same caveat to reporters. That statement does not erase the alleged shouted phrase or the choice of victims, but it does show investigators are keeping multiple explanations open rather than rushing to judgment before the facts are fully known.

Raul Morales, 51, was taken into custody after reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar" & stabbing two people blocks apart on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Both victims survived, and NYPD investigators are determining whether to charge the separate attacks as hate crimes. pic.twitter.com/7DBB3dJjnx

— John f Kennedy JR (@Amelia_Davilzc) July 24, 2026

Early reports also briefly misidentified both victims as Jewish before correcting the record to note one victim is Asian. That kind of confusion is common in fast-moving cases, but it is a reminder that details can shift quickly as police and reporters piece together what actually happened on the ground.

What Comes Next for the Investigation

Investigators still need arrest paperwork, surveillance footage, and sworn statements to fully establish motive beyond what witnesses reported at the scene. Whether prosecutors ultimately charge Morales with a hate crime will depend on evidence tying his alleged words to a deliberate choice of victims based on their faith or ethnicity, not just an outburst during a violent episode.

What is already clear is troubling enough on its own. Two men were stabbed in broad daylight on a busy Manhattan street, and witnesses say their attacker invoked a phrase tied to Islamist violence around the world. New Yorkers deserve straight answers, not spin, about what happened and why it was allowed to happen in the first place.