Ali Alaheri was charged with setting fire to a yeshiva and synagogue in Brooklyn in May 2021. Alaheri was captured on surveillance video piling garbage bags against the side of a building on 36th Street in Brooklyn that housed a yeshiva (a Jewish school) and a synagogue. Alaheri was recorded igniting the garbage bags. Firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the location and extinguished the blaze. Several hours later, Alaheri was again captured on surveillance video, this time repeatedly punching a man wearing traditional Hasidic garb. There was no interaction between Alaheri and the victim prior to the assault. When Alaheri was arrested on May 21, 2021, he appeared to be wearing the same clothing he was wearing in the video footage of the assault.