USA
New York police investigate after cyclist attacks Jewish child in Brooklyn
Security footage appears to show a man harassing Jewish
May 16, 2024 20:42
By, In New York
1 min read
Security footage appears to show a man harassing Jewish
May 16, 2024 20:42ByFaygie Holt, In New York
The New York City Police Department is investigating an incident caught on tape on Sunday night that appears to show a cyclist hitting a young Jewish child in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
According to the NYPD, the child was playing on the sidewalk when “an unknown male riding his bicycle on the sidewalk stated, ‘Get off the sidewalk.’ The suspect then pushed the victim to the ground causing a minor laceration his head. The suspect fled southbound on Franklin Avenue.”
“There are no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing,” the NYPD said.
Disturbing video footage showing the perpetrator assaulting and beating kids on Franklin Avenue on Sunday night. @NYPD79Pct @NYPDBklynNorth pic.twitter.com/Fiwh8F7NQp
A video from Williamsburg 365 and shared on social media, shows a slightly different story with the man driving on the sidewalk and coming to a stop near where a group of Chassidic boys are playing. He approaches the group and then when the children scatter, he grabs one of the children, pushes him to the ground and then kicks him several times before fleeing.
The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement on X, the former Twitter, Thursday afternoon saying they are “alarmed by this assault allegedly targeting Orthodox Jewish children … .”
The incident occurred outside 165 Franklin Avenue in Williamsburg, the heart of Brooklyn’s chasidic community, The area is a district represented in the New York State Legislature by Jabari Brisport in the state senate and Phara Souffrant Forrest in the state assembly. Both have been criticised by the local Jewish communities for their anti-Israel stances.
Yaacov Berman of the Jewish Future Alliance, an advocacy organization in Brooklyn, told the Jewish Chronicle, “Without knowing all the facts, I’m not surprised that Jews are being beaten in the street in the Brisport and Forrest district when both of them have been preaching hate against Israel and the Jewish people for months.
“As a parent and Jew, I feel empowered to do anything to protect my children, and we are going to make sure that Jewish children are not being attacked in the streets of Brooklyn,” he said, adding that he knows some parents in the area where the attack took place who won’t let their children play outside right now.
According to the Anti-Defamation League there were 197 incidents of Jew hate in Brooklyn in 2023. Among them were several incidents in Williamsburg in which Jewish men had their yarmulkas or streimels knocked off their heads as they were walking down the street.