The US State Department has thanked and honoured Syrian immigrant Zack Tahhan for helping find the suspect in the New York subway shooting this week, connecting it to Arab American Heritage Month.
Mr Tahhan shared with onlookers and reporters in Manhattan on Wednesday his claims that he found Frank James — the suspect in a shooting incident on a Brooklyn subway train on Tuesday in which 23 people were injured — and called a city police tip line.
“This Arab American Heritage Month, we salute a New York hero and Syrian immigrant Zach Tahhan who played a role in the apprehension of the suspect in this week’s New York metro shooting,” the Near East Bureau of the US State Department tweeted, using a #ThankYouZack hashtag.
April is Arab American Heritage Month in the US, which the US State Department formally recognised in 2021.
“Immigrants with origins from the Arab world have been arriving to the United States since before our country’s independence and have contributed to our nation’s advancements in science, business, technology, foreign policy and national security,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Mr Tahhan is a Syrian immigrant who came to the US five years ago. He lives in New Jersey and works as a security camera installer.
In an interview with Documented, a non-profit news publication covering immigrants in New York City, Mr Tahhan said he was born in the US and his family moved to Aleppo in northern Syria.
He and his family fled the country when the Syrian civil war began. He then returned to the US after spending time in Istanbul in Turkey.
The New York Police Department has not publicly confirmed Mr Tahhan's role in finding Mr James, and it is not known if he has received a part of a reward for the apprehension of the suspect.
“We believe [Mr James] was one of the tipsters because a caller to the Crime Stoppers hotline identified himself as the suspect and described the clothing accurately,” a law enforcement official close to the investigation told The National on Wednesday.
“At the same time, we had other tips from other citizens pointing him out in the same area.”
Still, many across social media thanked Mr Tahhan for his service.
New York State attorney general Letitia James tweeted: “Thank you for your bravery today, Zack. All of New York is grateful.”
In the aftermath of his newfound fame, social media accounts claiming to be Mr Tahhan are popping up around cyberspace, as well as crowdsource funding sites that have no connection to him.
Mr James has been charged with a terrorist or other violent attack against a mass transit system.
