The Telegraph reports that Yishai Schlissel, the 39-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish man accused of attacking marchers in Jerusalem’s gay pride parade, has been charged with the murder of a teenage girl and the attempted murder of six other people.
Schlissel was indicted at Jerusalem District Court for the assault on July 30 that resulted in the death of 16-year-old Shira Banki. The indictment claims Schlisssel purchased a kitchen knife with a 6″ blade expressly to carry out his attack.
The charge sheet suggests he was initially stopped from entering the parade by a group of female police officers, but was later able to sneak into the march from another spot after eluding two officers. Following paraders down Keren Hayesod Street in West Jerusalem, he began to stab people, aiming at their lower bodies, and was eventually wrestled to the ground by police officers.
Three days later Shira Banki died from her injuries. Many of the other victims were seriously wounded.
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The month prior, Schlissel had been released from jail, after serving a 10-year sentence for carrying out a similar attack at a Jerusalem gay pride event in 2005.
Prior to the attack, he apparently made his intentions clear by distributing leaflets throughout his home town of Modiin Illit.
An investigative panel has recommended that five police officers be removed from daily operational duties, after evaluatiing their performance in monitoring Schlissel’s movements prior to the attack.
Schlissel was remorseless at Monday’s court meeting. In a brief statement, he said:
“If you wish to do good for the late Shira, then every time people hold gay pride events that severely damages her soul, you should know that. Then if you want to uplift her soul, the gay pride parade should be stopped in Jerusalem and throughoutt the Land of Israel. Stop this provocation and abuse against the holy one, blessed be he.”
