‘I was afraid': DC rabbi talks about antisemitic attack outside Georgetown synagogue

New details emerged Monday on a suspected antisemitic assault outside a D.C. synagogue on Sunday.

Police responded to Kesher Israel, in Georgetown, just before 9:30 a.m. Sunday after a man allegedly shouted “Gas the Jews” and sprayed people with a foul-smelling substance.

Rabbi Hyim Shafner was teaching a class inside the synagogue with a few congregants. One of them opened the front door and was surprised to see a U-Haul van parked on the sidewalk.

What happened next damaged a community’s sense of security.

“He was yelling ‘Gas the Jews,’” Shafner said.

Police say Brent Wood, 33, stood outside the house of worship and sprayed a congregant and someone jogging on the street with a foul-smelling spray. A photo obtained by News4 shows police approaching the suspect.

Shafner said he and the rest of the congregants went inside, exited a different way and called police.

“I was afraid. I was worried he was going to do something more violent,” the rabbi said.

Police arrested Wood and charged him with simple assault and resisting arrest. Officers briefly evacuated residents nearby as they performed a sweep of the U-Haul. Nothing hazardous was found.

“The police were wrestling this guy on the ground, trying to get him to stop resisting, and there must have been five, six police cars. I’ve never seen so many,” neighbor Nora Cameron said.

Metropolitan Police Department bias-related crimes data says that as of Nov. 30, police have investigated 22 incidents targeting Jewish people in D.C. this year. In 2022, there were nine incidents. In 2021, there were 13.

“It’s certainly something I haven’t seen in 50 years. It’s a dramatic upswing, uptick, and it’s unsettling,” said Ron Halber of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.

D.C. police say someone sent threatening emails to multiple synagogues in the District, including Kesher Israel. No credible threats were found, but it’s still unnerving.

“This is a country where everybody should feel free to worship as they want to worship. That’s what America’s built on – freedom of religion. If we’ve gotten to a time where people can’t do that, I think it should worry all of us,” Shafner said.

Police say the suspect is not from the area. His driver’s license shows his last known address as Toledo, Ohio. He’s due in court Jan. 29.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office will determine if what happened will be officially classified as a hate crime.