A man who rammed his car into the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish movement in January pleaded guilty to federal charges of damaging religious property on Wednesday.
The man, Dan Sohail, admitted on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court to pounding his car repeatedly into the building. Reading from a prepared statement, Mr. Sohail sat back in his chair, facing the judge, and said he had “intentionally damaged the building.”
In a video from Jan. 28, a gray Honda sedan is seen battering into a set of wooden doors at the bottom of a driveway at the headquarters. After crashing into the entrance several times, Mr. Sohail emerged from the car and cursed at onlookers who were yelling at him to stop.
Mr. Sohail, 36, was charged by state prosecutors in Brooklyn with hate crimes, which were later dropped. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn brought their case against Mr. Sohail in March, while he was incarcerated at Rikers Island.
Mr. Sohail’s lawyer, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, declined to comment after the hearing.
Hate crimes against Jewish people in New York City have risen sharply since October 2023, making up more than half of the total hate crimes reported in the city, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a recent speech. In 2025, 330 of the total 576 recorded hate crimes in the city targeted Jewish people, according to Police Department data.
Interviews with rabbis and his family painted a complicated portrait of Mr. Sohail leading up to that night, and prosecutors and family members have said there were concerns surrounding Mr. Sohail’s mental health.
Before the crash, Mr. Sohail sought counsel from rabbis and attended celebrations at Hasidic centers. He lived with his mother, working as a technician. Mr. Sohail’s father, Sohail Majid Butt, said his son had grown up in a household that observed Islam and Catholicism, but had recently expressed an interest in converting to Judaism.
Mr. Sohail told the authorities he was in the process of converting to Judaism before he drove the car down the driveway that icy night, prosecutors said. In a hearing in March, he had asked through his lawyer that he not be transferred from Rikers Island to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn so he could properly observe the Jewish holidays. He wore a yarmulke to that court appearance.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Mr. Sohail faces up to six months of prison, and he will receive credit for the more than three months he has already served.
Yaacov Behrman, a Chabad spokesman and political liaison who attended the hearing, called Mr. Sohail’s actions “a planned attack on the Chabad Headquarters.” He said he was disappointed that Mr. Sohail could leave prison so soon.
“The message needs to be sent loud and clear that attacking a synagogue will be met with serious consequences,” Mr. Behrman added. “That message was not heard in court today.”
Maia Coleman contributed reporting.
Santul Nerkar is a Times reporter covering federal courts in Brooklyn.
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