A video producer who worked on Mayor Zohran Mamdani's campaign falsely claimed on social media that a hate crime attack on Jewish worshippers at a Manhattan synagogue was not antisemitic, then deleted the post and backtracked when confronted.
Debbie Saslaw, co-founder of the video production agency Melted Solids, took to X after a 46-year-old Bronx man allegedly stormed Central Synagogue on the Upper East Side during Friday night Shabbat services, struck a 63-year-old worshipper in the face, and smashed religious objects while shouting slurs at congregants. Saslaw's post, which she later deleted, told her followers the attacker was "an orthodox jew who was lashing out at jews" and said she "wouldn't call that an 'antisemitic attack.'"
That claim was wrong. The accused attacker, Larry Montes, is not Orthodox Jewish. Prosecutors say he admitted his actions were religiously motivated and that he harbored racial hatred toward Black people as well. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office charged Montes with two counts of assault as a hate crime, two counts of aggravated harassment, and one count of criminal mischief as a hate crime.
Saslaw's agency, Melted Solids, produced digital video ads for Mamdani's successful mayoral campaign. The firm has also worked on campaigns for Sen. Bernie Sanders, House Democratic nominees Brad Lander and Claire Valdez, and former Congressman Jamaal Bowman, a roster that places the agency squarely inside the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Saslaw told the New York Post on Sunday that she is no longer associated with Mamdani or his campaign.
Assistant District Attorney Ali Fazal laid out the allegations at Montes' Saturday night arraignment. Fazal told the court that Montes entered Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue during Shabbat services and targeted worshippers. Montes allegedly called congregants "swine" and "fake Jews." Sources told the Post he also yelled "f*** the Jews."
Fazal described the physical attack in court:
"[The defendant] intentionally struck a 63-year-old worshipper's face, causing her to sustain the laceration on her lip and fall to the ground."
Montes then allegedly grabbed two religious candles and candle holders and threw them, breaking them. Prosecutors valued the damaged items at roughly $10,000 each. Before leaving the building, Montes allegedly turned on a 65-year-old African American security guard.
Fazal made clear the hatred was not limited to one group:
"In addition to having animus towards Jewish individuals, the defendant admitted to having racial animus towards black people."
The five criminal counts Montes faces all carry hate-crime designations. Fox News reported that the incident adds to a broader pattern of antisemitic attacks in New York City under Mamdani's mayoralty, with Jewish leaders already faulting the mayor's rhetoric in connection with a separate Upper West Side stabbing hate crime probe.
Saslaw's original post linked to a New York Post story about Montes' arrest. She wrote that the attacker was an Orthodox Jew engaged in an internal dispute, a characterization unsupported by any known reporting. An X user named Nick Rizzo pushed back immediately:
"I... do not think that guy is Orthodox. Look at him! I have seen zero reporting he is Orthodox. The Sephardic community in the Bronx is super small. Where are you getting this?"
Saslaw offered shifting explanations. She replied that a "family member was there" at Central Synagogue but conceded she "could have been confused." When another user suggested Montes might be a "Jews for Jesus" adherent, Saslaw responded: "Yeah perhaps that is what i mixed this up with." She eventually deleted the original post.
In a follow-up on X, Saslaw acknowledged the obvious: "Sadly it's a hate crime and i was obviously panicked when i heard early reports but saw nothing on twitter for 4 hours or so." When the Post reached her on Sunday, she said she was "obviously mistaken" and "extremely disturbed" by the attack. She also insisted, "I never questioned whether it was a hate crime", a claim that sits uneasily alongside her deleted post, which did exactly that.
Mamdani's office has faced repeated credibility problems on matters touching Israel and the Jewish community. The mayor abandoned a signature campaign pledge to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, admitting the city lacked the authority he once claimed it had.
Mamdani publicly condemned the synagogue assault. "Our administration will always stand against bigotry in all its forms," the mayor said, pledging to "use every tool at our disposal to confront antisemitism and keep Jewish New Yorkers, and all New Yorkers, safe." He separately called himself "horrified" by the attack during Shabbat services.
Israel's consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, was not persuaded. Akunis called Mamdani's condemnation "lukewarm" and drew a direct line between the mayor's public statements on Israel and the violence at Central Synagogue:
"The attack at Manhattan's Central Synagogue is a direct result of Mayor Mamdani's sustained campaign of incitement. I warned that words would turn into actions, and that is exactly what is happening."
That accusation, that Mamdani's own words helped create the climate for antisemitic violence, is a serious diplomatic charge from a foreign government's official representative in the city. It lands at a moment when Mamdani is already under scrutiny from Jewish leaders over a separate hate crime investigation on the Upper West Side.
Mamdani has struggled to maintain credibility on multiple fronts. He claimed credit for a $104 million delivery tip boost he played little role in creating, and a disputed account of his interaction with former Ambassador Rahm Emanuel over anti-Israel views drew flat denials from his own staff.
Saslaw said she panicked. She said she was confused. She said a family member was present at the synagogue but may have given her bad information. Each explanation shifted the blame somewhere else, early reports, a four-hour gap on X, a possible mix-up with a different person's religious background.
What none of those explanations address is why her first instinct, upon learning of a violent attack on Jewish worshippers during Shabbat, was to publicly minimize it. She did not wait for facts. She did not ask questions. She posted a false claim that reframed a hate crime as an internal Jewish dispute, and she did it while linking to a news story that did not support her characterization.
Melted Solids built its client list inside the progressive movement. Sanders, Bowman, Lander, Valdez, Mamdani, these are the campaigns that hired Saslaw's firm to craft their message. The impulse to explain away an antisemitic attack did not come from nowhere. It came from a political world where hostility toward Israel routinely bleeds into discomfort with acknowledging antisemitism for what it is.
Public trust in Mamdani's commitment to Jewish safety was already thin. A Gold Star family blocked him from speaking at a fallen soldier's funeral in Queens, and a Staten Island crowd booed him off stage in under a minute at an NYPD celebration. The people closest to his political operation now include someone whose first reaction to a synagogue attack was to deny it was antisemitic.
Saslaw says she is no longer tied to the Mamdani campaign. The reflex she displayed, though, fits right in.
