An assailant shouted “Kanye 2024” after he attacked a 63-year-old Jewish man in New York, according to the city’s police department.
The victim was walking through Central Park before a man in his mid-40s attacked him from behind, knocking him to the ground and causing him to break his hand and chip his tooth.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) say the attacker shouted “numerous” antisemitic comments before escaping on a bicycle.
Local authorities say the suspect remains at large, while the victim is in a stable condition.
The incident comes after Ye, as Kanye West is now legally known, was kicked off Twitter again after he posted an image of a swastika inside a Star of David.
West previously appeared on an online show hosted by notable conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to insist that the Holocaust did not happen and declare: "I see good things about Hitler."
The disgraced rapper declared in November that he would run for president in 2024.
Scott Richman, the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) New York and New Jersey regional director told CNN: “Crimes like these have a ripple effect across communities and cause unique trauma on top of physical harm.
“When public figures with huge platforms fan the flames of antisemitism, people will copy it and begin to think it’s normal.”
.timesofisrael.com%2Fattacker-yells-kanye-2024-after-alleged-antisemitic-assault-in-ny-police-say%2FA 63-year-old victim suffered lacerations and a chipped tooth after being assaulted by this perpetrator inside Central Park.
— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) December 15, 2022
Numerous anti-Jewish statements were made prior to the assault.
The perpetrator has been tracked as far south as Washington Square Park, post incident pic.twitter.com/2CSbzibm4A
Councilman Eric Dinowitz, chairman of the city council’s Jewish Caucus, said: “I am deeply disturbed by this vile, yet predictable antisemitic attack in Central Park.
“Anti-Jewish attacks are rising at an alarming rate, fueled by hateful rhetoric and willful ignorance.
“These attacks on Jewish New Yorkers are not isolated incidents, but a pattern of attacks on an entire people.”
A report released earlier this year by the ADL revealed that antisemitic events had hit an all time high in America since the organisation began tracking them in the 1970s.
Earlier this month, the NYPD said there had been 45 antisemitic hate crimes in New York across November.
This marks a 125 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
