NYC resident who died saving pets from flooded basement is 'Torah Man' who wore bizarre religious get-up to court

"Akaberi, in part, got people talking about him, because of his stunt a decade ago, in which he wore his outlandish get-up to Brooklyn court. It included a "shirt" fashioned from newsprint pages covered in the holy Hebrew writings of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson - and a hat made from a print-out of the original seven commandments given to Noah. Akaberi wore the peculiar outfit as apparent retaliation because he was banned from reading Talmudic quotations at a pre-trial hearing."

""He's been in this community since I've been younger," said one of Akaberi's friends, who only identified himself as Joe. "He was just friends with people that I knew. When he first came to Crown Heights, nobody was saying bad things about him. But now, "there's a lot of people saying all kinds of things" about Akaberi, his pal said. Akaberi, in part, got people talking about him, because of his stunt a decade ago, in which he wore his outlandish get-up to Brooklyn court."

Aaron Akaberi, 39, died trying to rescue his dogs and cats from his storm-soaked Flatbush basement. Neighbors said he died a hero and remembered him as eccentric and a friend of the community. He had recently moved into the Kingston Avenue basement dwelling. He attracted attention when he wore an outfit made from religious texts to Brooklyn Supreme Court in 2016 while facing drug charges. The outfit included a shirt fashioned from newsprint pages covered in Hebrew writings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and a hat printed with the seven commandments. He said he wore it after being banned from reading Talmudic quotations at a pre-trial hearing.

Read at New York Post