Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Camera catches two attacks on Jewish men in Brooklyn

In one incident, two African-American teens chase a Jewish man down the street; in another, an African-American male sprays a fire extinguisher on a Jewish man.

Jews of the Belz Chassidic Dynasty wear shtreimels at a wedding on June 10, 2014. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Jews of the Belz Chassidic Dynasty wear shtreimels at a wedding on June 10, 2014. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Two acts of hate were perpetrated against Chassidic Jews in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sunday, and both were caught on security videos.

Just after midnight on Aug. 21, two African-American teens were seen chasing a Jewish man down the street. The man, who is wearing a shtreimel—a fur hat worn by some Chassidic men on Shabbat and Jewish holidays—drops it as he’s running. One of the teens stops to pick it up and waves it around like a trophy as the other teen continues to chase the Jewish man.

In a second instance, which happened at around 6 a.m. on Sunday, an African-American male carries a fire extinguisher and runs towards a Chassidic Jew in the same general area, spraying him with flame-retardant chemicals. Police are said to be investigating the incident.

The Anti-Defamation League said in a social-media post that it is aware of the second incident and urged people with information to call the local police, as well as report it to their organization.

“We will not allow hatred to dictate whether we remain in New York,” Rivkie Feiner, a board member of the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County, told JNS. “Our history is defined by resilience, not surrender, and that will not change now.”
“We’re a tiny percentage of the population, yet we’re over 50% of the attacks, and the mayor’s diatribes don’t help,” Rabbi Allen Schwartz of Ohab Zedek, a synagogue the victim attends, told JNS on the fast of Tisha B’Av.
“You know that’s the other Jewish guy named Josh, right?” the New Jersey congressman wrote, after Rep. Summer Lee appeared to confuse him with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
“Whether operating under the guise of charities, businesses or underground financial networks, those who enable Hamas will be exposed, sanctioned and held accountable,” the U.S. treasury secretary stated.
The United Nations agency “teaches Palestinian children to hate Jews, essentially functioning as a child soldier factory,” stated Rep. Chris Smith, who introduced the legislation.
“This reward offer is part of a broader effort to solicit information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the State Department said.