NEW YORK (VINnews) — Federal prosecutors have formally acknowledged for the first time that the 1994 murder of Jewish teenager Ari Halberstam would be prosecuted as a federal hate crime if it occurred today, saying modern civil rights laws now provide legal tools that did not exist when the gunman was convicted in state court.

The acknowledgment came in a July 23 letter from U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to Halberstam’s mother, Devorah Halberstam, following a meeting earlier this summer. Clayton wrote that there was “no question” federal prosecutors would investigate the killing as a hate crime under current law and would also pursue federal charges for the attempted murders of the other teenagers wounded in the Brooklyn Bridge attack.

Halberstam, 16, was killed on March 1, 1994, when Rashid Baz opened fire on a van carrying Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva students crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Baz was convicted in New York state court of murder and other charges and died in prison in 2002. (Background not from the letter.)

In the letter, Clayton wrote that while Baz was successfully prosecuted, the state case “did not fully account for the heinous conduct.” He said that if the attack occurred today, his office would seek federal hate crime and civil rights charges.

Clayton also said he has directed prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to review the case for any remaining investigative opportunities should new evidence emerge that could support a federal prosecution. He pledged to continue working with the Halberstam family and said combating antisemitic violence remains a priority for the office.