Synagogue Scare Suspects Were “Devout Christians” Interested In The “Beautiful Facades” [UPDATED]

Cops successfully tracked down the two men whose interest in an Ocean Parkway synagogue over the weekend sparked off a terrorism scare, and investigators determined them to be no threat at all.

“The two individuals have been identified, and they have been interviewed by detectives from the NYPD’s Intelligence Bureau,” an NYPD press officer told Sheepshead Bites yesterday afternoon. “The investigation has concluded that the two men did not, and do not pose any threat. Investigators sought to identify them based on community concerns that their actions were suspicious.”

The men were seen approaching the doors of Congregation Bet Yaakob on Ocean Parkway near Avenue R on Saturday afternoon. As they attempted to take a photo in front of the building, they were stopped by a security guard and sent away, with the guard scribbling down the make, model and license plate number of the vehicle.

Video of the incident was shared by congregants, and a member of another shul said he saw the same men near his synagogue a few blocks away. They then contacted police, sparking the search.

While several media outlets and Assemblyman Dov Hikind jumped to cast aspersions on the individuals, describing their activity as “casing” the synagogues and demanding police learn “what they were planning,” police determined after interviewing them that the explanation the men gave the guards – that they were simply curious – appeared to hold water.

Update (March 12 at 12:30pm): The 61st Precinct’s commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Carlos Valdez, briefed neighbors on the incident during Wednesday night’s community council meeting.

The two individuals were tracked down Monday evening after the NYPD received a tip through CrimeStoppers.

“It so happened that these two individuals, one was Hispanic, the other one was of Middle Eastern descent, they were tourists here from Connecticut,” said Valdez. “These individuals were found in Connecticut, they were hard-working, they were devout Christians, they were here sightseeing. They were going down Ocean Parkway and they noticed the beautiful facades of the synagogues … and they just wanted to take pictures. That’s how that ended.”

Still, Valdez said the NYPD would remain vigilante especially as the Jewish holidays approach.

“We do have the holidays coming up. We’ll do our due diligence and try to gather intel and we’ll cover the synagogues as best as possible,” he said.