The son of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane was arrested Tuesday during an altercation at a news conference held by attorneys defending the man accused of assassinating the Jewish Defense League founder and one-time Israeli Knesset member.
Binyamin Kahane, 25, who is also a rabbi, and 17-year-old Leon Kryzhanovsky, a Kahane supporter, were charged with harassment and disorderly conduct following the disruption.
Members of Kahane Chai, a militant group founded by the younger Kahane in his father’s memory, disrupted the news conference when attorneys for El Sayyid Nosair said they had evidence exonerating their client.
When members of the group rushed the podium, a security guard hired by defense attorneys William Kunstler and Michael Warren drew a gun, according to a police account of the incident. No shots were fired.
Police said the security guard, whose name was not available, was licensed to carry a gun and that no charges were filed against him.
The room in which the defense attorneys held their news conference was booked in the name of the American Arab Relations Committee.
M.T. Mehdi, president of the committee, declined to characterize his organization as supportive of Nosair and said it hosted the news conference merely “to provide the opportunity for new evidence” to be brought forth.
Warren’s office issued a statement saying that “profound discoveries” have been made pointing to his client’s “indisputable innocence.”
The attorneys presented their new evidence at a hearing Wednesday morning.
Meir Kahane was gunned down in a midtown Manhattan hotel last Nov. 5. Nosair is scheduled to go on trial here Nov. 4.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
