(JTA) — The heavily Orthodox town of Lakewood, New Jersey, is reeling after a string of violent attacks on Friday afternoon and evening, which included the stabbing of a Jewish man.

The alleged perpetrator of the attacks, Dion Marsh, 27, was arrested at his home Friday night and charged with murder, weapons possession and bias intimidation. The Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate crimes, said Marsh “is said to have made antisemitic remarks upon arrest.”

According to police, Marsh was responsible for a carjacking and three subsequent collisions with pedestrians over the course of seven hours on Friday. In one instance, an Orthodox Jewish man returning from praying before Shabbat was hit by a car, then stabbed by its driver, according to the Lakewood Scoop, a local Jewish publication, which tweeted two Hebrew names in a call for prayers for the victims.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

All three victims were hospitalized, with NBC New York reporting that as of Friday evening, one was in stable condition and two were in critical condition.

Lakewood Police Commissioner Meir Lichtenstein, the city’s Orthodox former mayor, implored locals to seek counseling if they become concerned about safety. “We will not live in fear,” he said at a press conference Sunday.

The incidents came on the heels of two attacks on Orthodox Jews in New York City last weekend. In one incident, a 21-year-old Hasidic Jewish man was beaten in Williamsburg, a heavily Hasidic neighborhood in Brooklyn. In another, six Jewish boys were threatened by teens carrying weapons on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. In both cases, New York City officials said the victims were targeted because they were Jewish.

Scott Richman, the ADL’s director for the New York and New Jersey region, condemned the Lakewood violence as antisemitic.

“We are grateful to federal and local law enforcement for their swift response in apprehending the suspect and bringing charges that include bias intimidation,” Richman said. “I am personally horrified at the cruelty with which the suspect allegedly conducted himself. More needs to be done proactively to prevent violence against the Jewish community, and in particular visibly identifiable Jews in Ocean County and across our region.”

Lakewood was the fastest-growing area in New Jersey in the last census, largely driven by its Haredi Orthodox population. Lakewood’s birth rate is among the highest in the world; the town is also a destination for Orthodox Jews from New York City seeking a lower cost of living. The Jersey Shore city is also home to multiple massive yeshivas that attract young men from around the world.

This post appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount