Mahrer, One of the Perpetrators of Threat to NYC Shuls is Jewish, his Lawyer said

By Yehudit Garmaise

“My client is of Jewish heritage,” defense attorney Brandon Freycint said about his client, Matthew Mahrer, 22, who was arrested on Friday at the Penn Station in Manhattan on charges of criminal possession of a weapon after plotting attacks on NY synagogues.

Mahrer, who has allegedly been diagnosed with autism, bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADHD, was ordered held on $150,000 bail at his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, the New York Post reported.

The alleged perpetrator lives in Manhattan’s Upper West Side with his parents and his 93-year-old grandfather, for whom he cares part-time for the last year after spending some time in homeless shelters.

“Based on [Mahrer’s Jewish claim], judge, my client should not be implicated in anything involving hatred towards his own people and his own religion,” Freycinet tried to argue.

On Friday, Mahrer and his friend Christopher Brown, 21, were arrested in Manhattan’s Penn Station where the pair was carrying weapons and a Nazi armband that they planned to use to attack NYC synagogues, according to the NYPD.

“The parents of this defendant alerted police officers to the existence of a firearm within the backpack of the defendant inside the defendant’s apartment,” said Assistant District Attorney Emilio Hernandez.

After cops seized a loaded handgun with an extended magazine and a bulletproof vest from Mahrer’s parents’ apartment, the alleged perpetrator was held on $150,000 bail at his arraignment on charges of criminal possession of a weapon.

Mahrer has no criminal history, but Brown, a diagnosed schizophrenic, recently told family members that he wanted to go to New York and buy a gun, sources said.

Brown, who was not arraigned yesterday, has been charged with making terroristic threats, aggravated harassment and criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD said.