NEW YORK—Four men accused of damaging a Brooklyn synagogue during a melee that followed the discovery of a secret tunnel at the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Hasidic Judaism are set to stand trial after turning down a plea deal offered by prosecutors.
The men face felony criminal mischief charges for their alleged role in a brawl last January that damaged parts of the famed complex, a deeply revered Jewish site that receives thousands of visitors annually.
At the time, scores of young men had gathered to protest an attempt by synagogue leaders to seal off a makeshift tunnel that some congregants had dug without permission in an effort to expand the worship space. When police arrived, prosecutors say some of the men ripped wooden siding off the wall, flung prayer books in the air, and refused to leave the dusty excavation site….