Assassination of Meir Kahane
| Assassination of Meir Kahane | |
|---|---|
525 Lexington Avenue, formerly the New York Marriott East Side | |
| Location | 40°45′20″N 73°58′22″W / 40.75556°N 73.97278°W 525 Lexington Avenue New York Marriott East Side, New York City, U.S. |
| Date | 5 November 1990 (18 Cheshvan 5751) Shortly after 9:00 p.m. (EST) |
Attack type | Assassination by shooting |
| Weapons | .357-caliber pistol |
| Perpetrator | El Sayyid Nosair |
| Motive | Islamic extremism |
On 5 November 1990, Meir Kahane, an Israeli-American rabbi, ultranationalist politician, and convicted domestic terrorist, was assassinated by El Sayyid Nosair, an American Islamic extremist, at the New York Marriott East Side hotel (now named 525 Lexington Avenue) in Manhattan, New York City.
On the second floor of the hotel, while Kahane was speaking to an audience, Nosair fatally shot him in the neck with a pistol, then escaped onto Lexington Avenue. While trying to take over a taxi at gunpoint, he shot a U.S. Postal Inspection Service officer who saw the carjacking attempt, Carlos Acosta. Acosta then shot and arrested Nosair; the two survived their injuries.
Nosair initially denied being Kahane's assassin. He was convicted for assault, possession of an illegal firearm, and of shooting Acosta, but not the assassination; Kahane's family opposed him getting an autopsy. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison, and took responsibility for the shooting years later.