An unidentified man riding a bicycle in the US city of New York violently attacked two Orthodox Jewish boys as they played on a sidewalk Sunday night.
The assault in Brooklyn, captured on video, prompted the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Hate Crimes unit to launch an investigation into the possibility of an antisemitic motive, the New York Post reported. The attack on boys aged 11 and 13 unfolded on Franklin Avenue near Myrtle Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 9 pm on Sunday.
Witnesses described the assailant stopping his bike between parked cars before aggressively confronting the children, who were dressed in traditional Orthodox Jewish attire. The accused shoved one boy to the ground and knocked another before kicking and stomping on him.
Disturbing video footage showing the perpetrator assaulting and beating kids on Franklin Avenue on Sunday night. @NYPD79Pct @NYPDBklynNorth pic.twitter.com/Fiwh8F7NQp— Williamsburg 365 News (@Williamsburg365) May 15, 2024
Although police noted minor injuries, including cuts to the backs of their heads, they did not report any explicit antisemitic remarks from the attacker. The perpetrator fled the scene on his bicycle, and as of Thursday, no arrests had been made in connection with the incident. The investigation remains ongoing amid the war in Gaza, which has resulted in a surge in antisemitism in the US and Europe.
Last year, the New York-based Jewish advocacy group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 8,873 incidents of antisemitism in the United States, marking the highest number since the outfit began tracking data in 1979. The annual audit released by the Jewish civil rights group revealed a 140% increase from the previous year, surpassing the all-time high set in 2022.
These incidents, which include harassment, vandalism, and assault, reflect a significant rise from the nearly 3,700 cases reported in 2022. The majority of documented incidents, totaling 6,535, involved harassment, characterized by antisemitic slurs, stereotypes, or conspiracy theories directed at Jewish individuals or those perceived as such. This category encompasses both online and in-person occurrences. The ADL’s audit identified 2,177 cases of vandalism and 161 assault incidents.
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