Massachusetts
Jewish communities in Mass. concerned as antisemitic hate crimes increase for third straight year – The Boston Globe
Physical violence against Jews in Massachusetts was rare, but vandalism, destruction, or intimidation accounted for 88 percent of the antisemitic bias incidents reported in 2023. About 72 percent took place in the eastern counties of Middlesex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, where the Jewish population is more concentrated.
“We don’t have massive organized violence against Jews, but there’s the prospect of it,” said Robert Leikind, regional director of the New England chapter of the American Jewish Committee. “When I go to synagogue, the doors are locked now.”
The state report tallies all types of hate crimes in the state, offenses in which bias, including bigotry toward religion, race, or gender, could be charged as a motivation for the crime. The most common target was the state’s Black population, with 149 incidences of bias, though the number decreased by almost 6 percent compared with the year before.
Another group increasingly targeted was the trans community. Antitransgender incidents increased from 14 in 2022 to 36 in 2023, a 157 percent increase.
The report “highlights a concerning increase in bias-motivated incidents, underscoring the need for continued vigilance and action,” said Elaine Driscoll, a spokesperson for the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. The 2023 data wasn’t released by the state until the end of December.
The data in the report comes from voluntary reporting from local police departments and campus police, as well as the Massachusetts Environmental Police. Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, Medford, Arlington, Newton, and Brookline all reported more than 10 hate crime incidents.
Overall, state law enforcement identified 557 hate crime reports, the most in nine years of reporting, some of which involved multiple incidents of bias. An example, Driscoll said, could be a single report that documented both an antireligion and an antirace bias.
Efforts to counter hate crimes in 2024 included $16.4 million in state and federal grant money for security at nonprofits, health care providers, and cultural centers that might be targeted. Additional money to protect nonprofits is expected in the spring.
Though hate crimes reported against Arabs, many of whom are Muslim, were not as common as those targeting Jews, they too became more common in 2023, nearly tripling to 20 reported incidents. For Muslims overall, the state report identified a decrease in hate crimes in 2023.
Massachusetts is home to about 318,000 Jews, according to the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, a nonprofit focused on boosting ties between those two countries. Massachusetts has the nation’s 10th largest Muslim population, with more than 131,000, according to the World Population Review.
Barbara Dougan, legal director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Massachusetts, an antidiscrimination organization based in Arlington, said she suspected that the state report undercounted the number of incidents directed at Muslims. She noted her organization conducted a 2023 study of discrimination against Muslims, a population that includes many Arabs, and found a 40 percent increase in incidents of hate crimes compared with 2022.
“The majority of our clients are immigrants,” she said. “There is a hesitance to come forward if you’re not sure how one even does that, or if you’re not sure what kind of reception you’re going to get.”
She also had concerns that police departments aren’t always filing hate crime charges. She noted that 314 police agencies identified no bias incidents, and 41didn’t respond to the survey at all.
Last year, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 40-year high in antisemitic incidents in 2023 in New England. The organization identified 623 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, a 205 percent increase over 2022. About 44 percent of those incidents happened after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, the organization reported.
The local increase in antisemitism mirrors national trends. The Anti-Defamation League identified a 140 percent increase in antisemitic activity nationally in 2023 over the prior year.
“There’s a great fear anecdotally, many more experiences of being harassed just on the street for being Jewish,” said Peggy Shukur, deputy regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s New England office. “This is something that’s happening and it is spreading fear.”
Advocates for both Jewish and Muslim populations agreed the Hamas attack, and the subsequent war in Gaza, caused both groups to experience more discrimination, an increase likely not fully captured in the 2023 data.
“We’ve been watching this trend gathering momentum for a long time,” Leikind said. “There’s no question that the events of Oct. 7, 2023, turbocharged what was already happening.”
Jason Laughlin can be reached at jason.laughlin@globe.com. Follow him @jasmlaughlin.
Massachusetts
Video shows man body-slamming woman after apparent road rage incident in Massachusetts
ATTLEBORO, Mass. — A Rhode Island man is under arrest after police said he body slammed a woman in an apparent case of road rage in Massachusetts Friday morning, WBZ reported.
The victim says it is a miracle that the situation was not worse.
She is in a lot of pain, but is also thankful to be home after being slammed to the ground in a disturbing video.
“By the time that I realized I was in the air, and I thought to myself, ‘I might die right now,’” said victim Hailea Soares.
The apparent road rage attack, which happened in Attleboro, was so violent that Soares says it is a wonder that she is home from the hospital.
Police said a man is seen on cellphone video snatching the petite mom of two young kids out of her car, picking her up and then slamming her head-first on the ground.
“It was like a weird sensation I felt on my face, and I realized I was on the ground, and I rolled over, and there was blood dripping all over my hands,” Soares said.
Pictures captured the brutal aftermath.
Soares suffered a very serious injury to her skull and eye socket. Her knee and foot are broken. She said she could not move them.
“All I could think was, I’m not going to be able to walk again. I can’t even tend to my kids, I can’t even walk up a staircase, I can’t put my own sock on my foot,” Soares said.
Investigators said the victim had just been in a fender bender with the suspect, Gladior Kwesiah.
“He was just being a jerk off on the road,” Soares said.
Soares said she accidentally hit his car from behind along Route 1 and Route 1A.
After the crash, witnesses say, Kwesiah banged on Soares’ car and yanked her from it. That is when he grabbed her and threw her down on the pavement.
“I don’t know if he was having a bad day. I don’t know what that was, but if that’s the type of person he is, I don’t think he belongs in society with the rest of us,” Soares said.
Given how Soares’ day started, she is thankful she can see her 1-year-old and 8-year-old children again.
“Nothing really matters in life except the people you love that are close to you,” Soares said.
The suspect faces several charges, including assault and battery. Soares is asking the community to pray for her to recover and for everybody to be kind to one another.
(The-CNN-Wire & 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Man Indicted On Nashua Robbery Charge: Court Roundup
NASHUA, NH — A Hillsborough County grand jury indicted the following people recently.
Kiana Aguilla, 23, of Wall Street in Milford, on a felony insurance fraud charge. She was accused of defrauding and deceiving Progressive when he presented an oral statement he knew contained false information on July 10, 2023, in Milford.
Fernando Alvarez, 36, of Nutt Street in Nashua, on a felony controlled drug act; acts prohibited-subsequent-crack cocaine charge on May 9, 2024, in Nashua. He was convicted on a possession charge in Hillsborough County Superior Court South in February 2019.
Eric Baker, 42, of no fixed address in Nashua, on three first-degree assault felony counts. He was accused of striking another person with a 2×4 piece of wood, causing a broken arm and kicking and punching him, resulting in broken ribs and a pulmonary contusion on Aug 10, 2024, in Nashua, and punching, kicking, and striking the same person with a 2×4 resulting in a head laceration on Aug. 16, 2024, in Nashua. Read about this case here: Man Arrested On Assault-Deadly Weapon Charge After Homeless Camp Incident In Nashua
Eric G. Eastman, 31, of Steele Road in Hudson, on a felony aggravated felonious sexual assault charge. He was accused of sexually assaulting a child under 13 between April 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022, in Hudson.
Jariel Xavier Esmurria, 23, of Second Street in Lowell, Massachusetts, on a felony robbery charge. He was accused of using physical force against another person by pushing them against a wall and forcibly removing shoes from the victim’s feet on April 25, 2024, in Nashua.
Joseph Michael Fletcher, 36, of East Merrimack Street in Lowell, MA, on a felony second-degree assault charge. He was accused of strangling an intimate partner on May 27, 2024, in Nashua.
Wayne Geddes, 45, of Palm Street in Nashua, on second-degree assault-domestic violence and controlled drug act; acts prohibited-cocaine charges, both felonies. He was accused of possessing the drug and strangling an intimate partner on July 4, 2024, in Nashua. Previously, Geddes was convicted on a possession charge in Rockingham Superior Court in October 2005.
Tori Goulette, 47, of Summer Street in Nashua, on a felony possession of a narcotic drug-subsequent offense-crack cocaine charge on Aug. 7, 2024, in Nashua.
David Grover, 38, of Amos Tuck Road in East Kingston, on a felony theft by deception charge. He was accused of committing to render home improvements of more than $1,500 in exchange for money and not performing the work on Jan. 14, 2023, in Hollis.
Miguel Perry, 31, of Amherst Street in Nashua, on four felony controlled drug act; acts prohibited, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, charges. He was accused of selling crack to a cooperating individual of the Nashua Police Department on Sept. 27, Sept. 28, 2022, and Oct. 11, 2023, in Nashua, and possessing the meth on June 5, 2024, in Nashua.
Rodolfo Ramirez Romero, 26, of Prospect Street in Manchester, on a felony motor vehicles; penalties-operating after certification as a habitual offender charge. He was accused of driving a Chevy Tahoe on Pine Hill Road in Hollis on May 11, 2024, after being deemed a habitual offender in November 2023.
Charles Reidy, 31, of no fixed address in Nashua, on a felony controlled drug act; acts prohibited-crack cocaine charge on June 25, 2024, in Nashua. Previously, he was convicted on a possession charge in Hillsborough County Superior Court South in September 2022.
Editor’s note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Hillsborough County Superior Court South and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.
Massachusetts
Here's what the largest lottery prize won in Mass. in 2024 was
The largest lottery prize won in Massachusetts in 2024 came from a ticket given to the winner as a birthday gift, which they called “the best birthday present ever.”
There were at least 150 players who won between $1 million and $15 million — and one player won even more.
The top prize won in Massachusetts in 2024 was worth $1 million a year for life.
The prize was from “Lifetime Millions,” a $50 scratch ticket game released on Feb. 6, 2024. As of Jan. 3, there are still two $1 million a year for life grand prizes remaining to be claimed, along with three $2 million prizes and seven $1 million prizes.
The top lottery winner of 2024 claimed their prize through the Merjon Tangovan Nominee Trust of Boston, represented by trustee Greg Racki, on July 10, 2024.
The winner received $15.4 million after Racki selected the cash option instead of annuity for the grand prize. They told Racki they plan on buying a new car, traveling and helping their family with the cash.
The winning ticket was bought at Northside Market & Liquors, located at 44 North Rd. in Bedford. The store received a $50,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Here’s the complete list of the top 10 largest lottery prizes won in Massachusetts in 2024:
- $1 million a year for life prize claimed from the “Lifetime Millions” scratch ticket game on July 10. The winner opted to receive their prize as a one-time payment of $15.4 million, and bought their $50 ticket at the Northside Convenience shop in Bedford. There’s still two grand prizes left to be claimed.
- $15 million prize claimed from the “$15,000,000 Money Maker” scratch ticket game on Aug. 15. The winner bought their $30 ticket in Lynn at the One Stop Mart. As of December, there’s just one grand prize left to be claimed in the game.
- $15 million prize claimed from the “300X” scratch ticket game on June 13. The winning $30 ticket was purchased at the Country Farms store in Topsfield. This was the first and only grand prize claimed in the game as of December, with two more grand prizes left to claim.
- $10 million prize claimed from the “$10,000,000 Cash Blast” scratch ticket game on Oct. 3. The winner bought their $20 ticket at the Star Liquor store in Shrewsbury. It was the first and only grand prize claimed in the game as of December, with two more grand prizes left to claim.
- $10 million prize claimed from the “$10,000,000 Cash King” scratch ticket game, also on Oct. 3. This winner bought their $20 ticket in Boston at Jobi Liquors, Inc., leaving no grand prizes left to be claimed.
- $10 million prize claimed from the “$10,000,000 Bonanza” scratch ticket game on Sept. 4. The winning $20 ticket was sold in Raynham at Coletti’s Market, and was the only grand prize claimed in the game as of December, with two more grand prizes left to claim.
- $5.37 million jackpot prize won during the “Megabucks” drawing on May 4. The winning numbers for the drawing were 4, 11, 15, 26, 30 and 40, and the winning ticket was purchased in Northborough at Lowe’s Variety Mart.
- $5 million prize claimed from a “$5,000,000 100X Cashword 2024″ scratch ticket on Oct. 2. A hot week for lottery players in the state, this $20 winning ticket was sold at From Brazil Restaurant in Peabody. There’s just one grand prize left in the game as of December.
- $5 million prize claimed from a “$5,000,000 100X Cashword” scratch ticket (released in 2023) on June 18. The winning ticket was sold at the Price Chopper in Pittsfield, and was the last grand prize left in the game.
- $2.64 million prize won during the “Megabucks” drawing on Aug. 24. The winning numbers for the drawing were 5, 6, 8, 9, 24 and 32, and the winner bought their ticket while at the Hillcrest Country Club in Leicester.
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