Cops probing threats, harassment against 2 women during protest outside NYC synagogue after vile video circulates online
Police are searching for several men accused of threatening and harassing two women in separate incidents during a protest outside a prominent synagogue in Brooklyn last week, after a sickening video of a group chasing after one of the victims circulated online.
One female protester was injured and another woman was subjected to 'vile' threats as she was followed by a crowd of counter-protesters – with the stomach-turning encounter caught on tape – near the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters Thursday night, Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Sunday, announcing the NYPD probe.
The heated clash between anti-Israel protesters and a group of Hasidic Jewish men in Crown Heights took place during an appearance by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at the synagogue — with Adams calling the chaos 'despicable.'
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5 Several men are accused of harassing two women during a heated protest in Brooklyn.
William C Lopez/New York Post
'New York City will always be a place where people can peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence, trespassing, menacing, or threatening,' he said in a statement.
Adams said initial reports indicate the female protester was 'harassed by counter-protesters, and suffered injuries' after she was separated from her group.
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A photo captured by The Post shows blood across a keffiyeh-wearing protester's face during Thursday's demonstration.
It was not immediately clear if Adams was referring to that same demonstrator.
The second woman, who was not a part of the protest, 'was surrounded and subjected to vile threatening by counter-protesters,' Adams said.
Footage of the scary situation posted on social media shows the woman, with a scarf wrapped around much of her face, walking with a cop by her side as a mob of men and teenage boys followed closely behind — with some even putting their hands on her and others getting in her face.
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One counter-protester pushed a garbage container over in her direction at one point and a traffic cone was also tossed at the woman's head, according to the video. She was also allegedly kicked, shoved and spat at while the men encircled her.
5 The intense clash was caught on camera.
William C Lopez/New York Post
Several of the men shouted horrific insults at the woman, including references to sexual assault, the footage shows.
She was eventually ushered into a police cruiser by the officer to the cheers of the counter-protesters.
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The woman, who is in her 30s, told the Associated Press Sunday that she was mistaken for an anti-Israel protester after she went outside her home to investigate police helicopters buzzing overhead in response to the protest.
5 The male suspects allegedly made 'vile' threats at one woman and injured another.
William C Lopez/New York Post
'As soon as I pulled up my scarf, a group of 100 men came over immediately and encircled me,' said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
'They were shouting at me, threatening to rape me, chanting 'death to Arabs.' I thought the police would protect me from the mob, but they did nothing to intervene,' she added.
The woman, who was left with bruises, said she felt 'sheer terror.'
'I realized at that point that I couldn't lead this mob of men to my home,' she said. 'I had nowhere to go. I didn't know what to do. I was just terrified.'
5 A pro-Palestinian protester was pictured being arrested by police during the confrontation.
William C Lopez/New York Post
After the traumatic chase, the victim, a lifelong New Yorker, said she's afraid to leave her home.
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'I'm afraid to move around the neighborhood where I've lived for a decade,' she told the AP. 'It doesn't seem like anyone in any position of power really cares.'
Police said Oscar Vidal, 28, of Bayonne, NJ, was arrested and charged with assault, criminal mischief and harassment, while Adams noted several more were hit with summonses. It's unclear which assault the arrests were connected to.
The mayor said in a follow-up statement that at least one of the women has spoken to officials.
'Hate has no place in our city, and those responsible will be held accountable,' Hizzoner said.
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5 Police were called in to help the women escape from the mob of men and teenage boys.
William C Lopez/New York Post
Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman slammed anti-Israel protesters and the counter-protesters in a statement to the Associated Press.
'The violent provocateurs who called for the genocide of Jews in support of terrorists and terrorism — outside a synagogue, in a Jewish neighborhood, where some of the worst antisemitic violence in American history was perpetrated, and where many residents share deep bonds with the victims of Oct 7 — did so in order to intimidate, provoke, and instill fear,' said Rabbi Motti Seligson.
The neighborhood around the synagogue was the site of the 1991 Crown Heights riot.
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'We condemn the crude language and violence of the small breakaway group of young people; such actions are entirely unacceptable and wholly antithetical to the Torah's values. The fact that a possibly uninvolved bystander got pulled into the melee further underscores the point,' Seligson also said.
Anti-Israel protesters clashed with police outside another Brooklyn synagogue where Ben-Gvir was scheduled to give a speech before it was canceled Sunday.
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