Forshay Stabbing Suspect Kicked Out of Boot Camp
Grafton Thomas, the man charged with stabbing five people during a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey, New York, this past Saturday began boot camp to enter the US Marine Corps but was separated from the service a month later for “fraudulent enlistment,” military officials said Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
A Marine Corps spokeswoman would not provide details on why Thomas left the Marines as a recruit in late 2002, about a month after he started training.
“Those specifics are administrative in nature and therefore information we are required to keep private,” Capt. Karoline Foote told AP.
Military law defines fraudulent enlistment as a “knowingly false representation or deliberate concealment as to” a recruit’s qualifications. That could involve a recruit failing to disclose certain medical conditions, past drug use or an arrest record, including cases that are sealed because the recruit was a juvenile or for other reasons.
On Monday, Thomas was charged with five hate crimes, including “obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by attempting to kill with a dangerous weapon and causing injuries.”
A criminal complaint said at least one of the victims was in critical condition with a skull fracture. That man remained in serious condition Tuesday, said former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind.
Thomas’ lawyer, Michael Sussman, told reporters on Monday that his client has been hospitalized for mental illness and added he had requested a 30-day mental health evaluation after speaking to Grafton behind bars, who he claimed appears to be suffering from hallucinations and is allegedly hearing voices.
Sussman wrote in an email to AP on Tuesday that Thomas “was recruited and suffered a wrist injury during basic training” with the Marines.
“He was then released from that training,” Sussman said. “That is the best information we have at this time.”
US authorities have reportedly uncovered evidence that Thomas was looking for information on Nazi culture, swastikas, anti-Semitic ideas, locations of Jewish synagogues around him, and also asked the question: “Why did Hitler hate the Jews?”
Authorities are also investigating whether Thomas is responsible for last month’s stabbing in Monsey that injured a man while he walked to synagogue.
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