New York Police Treating Latest Attack on Orthodox Jew in Crown Heights as Hate Crime
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by Algemeiner Staff
An ambulance used by Hatzalah in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
An Orthodox Jewish man was violently assaulted on Saturday night in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood — the latest in a series of hate crimes over the last two months on the Haredi community in the area.
The 19-year-old man told police that he was walking along Empire Boulevard near Schenectady Avenue at approximately 9:00 p.m., when he passed a group of teenage males.
One of the group approached the Jewish man and asked him, “Do you want to fight?” The black teen then began to punch the Jewish man in the face and knocked him to the ground, community website COL Live reported.
The group then fled eastbound on Empire Boulevard. The victim was treated for minor injuries at Maimonides Hospital.
Another violent assault tonight in Crown Heights in front of 829 Empire Boulevard at Schenectady Avenue. I ask again, what is going wrong with Crown Heights that innocents are beaten in the streets? Is there an atmosphere that is encouraging violence?! https://t.co/zgdArRqmtE
— Yaacov Behrman (@ChabadLubavitch) January 13, 2019
According to the report, police at the scene were able to retrieve video showing the perpetrators prior to the attack. The actual assault occurred off camera. The NYPD 71st Precinct’s investigation is taking place in coordination with the city’s Hate Crime Task Force.
The spate of violent attacks against Haredi Jews in Brooklyn during the last three months has led to calls for an increased police presence on the streets. “It’s terrible that one doesn’t feel safe stepping out of his home at any time of the day,” Rabbi David Niederman — president of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn — told The Algemeiner in an interview last month.
