Two Chasidic men attacked in separate incidents in Brooklyn
Unidentified assailant punched Orthodox man in the head, but those pursuing him forced to let him go as there was no police to arrest him
An unidentified man ran up to a group of Chasidic Jewish men and punched one in the head.
The victim, who like the others with whom he was standing was wearing a shtreimel, a fur hat worn by some Chasidic Jewish men, fell forward as the assailant fled.
At least two men chased the assailant and, according to the local NBC News affiliate, caught him, but could not find any police nearby and had to let him go. Friday evening’s incident was caught on surveillance camera.
It is the latest in a string of attacks on visibly Jewish men in the neighbourhood in recent days.
Police are not investigating the Friday night incident as a hate crime, since the man did not use any antisemitic slurs or racial epithets.
The neighbourhood children are afraid, a Jewish man told NBC.
Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, a Jewish man was attacked by two black males who punched him in the face as he walked to synagogue services in Crown Heights, according to the news website Crown Heights Info. The attackers fled after the victim began fighting back and grabbed one of their glasses.
The Anti-Defamation League on Sunday announced that it was offering a reward of up to £3,900 ($5,000) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for the two attacks.
Last week, two Orthodox Jewish boys were attacked in Brooklyn on the same day. And earlier this month , the NYPD circulated surveillance video of a group of preteens and teens that it says has carried out a series of antisemitic attacks in Brooklyn, including throwing a metal pipe through the window of a synagogue, pushing a 10-year-old Chasidic girl and knocking the hat off a 14-year-old Chasidic boy.
Last month, two Orthodox Jewish men were beaten in Brooklyn in two days.
“Antisemitism, or hate of any kind, has zero place in our communities,” Attorney General-Elect Letitia James said in a statement provided to ADL. “I am deeply disturbed by these recent acts of hate against New Yorkers, acts that must be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators held to the fullest extent of the law. Today and every day, I stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community and urge anyone with information about these heinous crimes to come forward.”
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