Mayor Eric Adams urges women threatened at NYC protest against Israeli official Itamar Ben Gvir to file complaints
NEW YORK — Two women who were threatened and harassed during a protest outside a Brooklyn speaking appearance by controversial Israeli official Itamar Ben Gvir Thursday night were urged to come forward and file complaints, Mayor Eric Adams said on X.
One of the protesters was hurt, with the other subjected to 'vile threatening by counter protesters,' Adams said in the Sunday post.
The incidents were caught on video and posted on social media as the NYPD looks for the suspects.
Various videos show one of the victims, her face covered by a scarf, being escorted by a police officers, with young men or teens trying to get in her face or spit on her.
'Let me be clear: None of this is acceptable,' the mayor added. 'In fact, it is despicable.'
Both incidents, as well as several others for which police issued five disorder conduct summonses and arrested one man for assaulting another, happened outside the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
A crowd of more than 200 Hasidim had gathered for an appearance by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist settler leader once on the fringes of Israeli politics, has sparked controversy in both New York and Connecticut on his first official U.S. state visit since joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet in 2022.
Prior to the Brooklyn episode, Ben-Gvir was speaking to a small crowd at a Manhattan steakhouse Thursday afternoon when a man who had been hiding in a bathroom for two hours stormed into the private event. 'Get the [expletive] out of New York!' cried the protester.
The NYPD on Monday was bracing for another demonstration scheduled for 7 p.m. involving a pro-Palestinian group that will march from Barclays Center to Crown Heights.
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