Latest news with #HateCrimeTaskForce
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Yahoo
NYPD hunts bigot who tore down, threw away Hindu flags at Queens home
Police are asking for the public's help in identifying a bigot who tore down and discarded four religious Hindu flags hanging in front of a Queens home. The suspect walked onto the Glen Oaks property near Little Neck Parkway and Union Turnpike at around 2:40 p.m. on April 20. He then ripped down four flags from the front of the house and tossed them into the garbage, cops said Saturday. The prejudiced perp took off on foot in an unknown direction. The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident, police said. Cops released surveillance footage of the suspect inside what appears to be a liquor store, carrying a brown briefcase. He was dressed in a brown jacket, a multi-colored shirt, a purple tie, blue pants and black shoes. He was last seen wearing these clothes. Anyone who recognizes the suspect or has information regarding the incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stopper's Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). Hate crimes are down nearly 14% citywide this year through April 20, compared to the same time period in 2024, according to NYPD crime records.
New York Post
21-04-2025
- New York Post
Woman beats 2 in racist attack at NYC Chinese takeout spot over food prices: cops
A woman enraged over the prices at a Chinese takeout spot in Harlem attacked two people – at least one was a worker – and spewed racist, anti-Asian vitriol, cops and sources said Monday. The suspect flew into a rage over the cost of cuisine inside the Empire Chinese Restaurant on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard near West 141st Street around 2:30 p.m. April 6, police and sources said. 'You Asians can't stay here!' she snarled, according to law enforcement sources. 'Go back to your country!' A crazed customer attacked two people inside a Harlem Chinese food restaurant during a spat over food prices, cops and sources said. NYPD The customer then turned violent as she grabbed a 42-year-old woman by the hair and dragged her to the ground, police said. She then turned her attention to a 48-year-old man — who worked at the eatery — punching him in the head and face, cutting his lip, cops said. Police could not confirm whether the woman, who was attacked, was an employee. The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident. Google Maps Both victims refused medical attention for minor injuries. The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the violence, cops said. The assailant, described as a woman with a dark complexion, was last seen wearing a black coat, black pants and black sneakers. Police released a photo early Monday of the suspect.
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Yahoo
Brooklyn woman arrested after allegedly leaving brick with swastika on Cybertruck in Jewish NYC nabe: NYPD
A Brooklyn woman was arrested on hate crime charges for allegedly leaving a brick scrawled with a swastika and the word 'Nazi' on a parked Tesla in a Jewish enclave this week. Natasha Cohen was accused of writing the hateful symbol in chalk on the brick, and leaving it on the bumper of a Cybertruck parked in front of a yeshiva on Ditmas Avenue near Ocean Parkway in Kensington just after 8 p.m. Monday, according to police and photos. The car's 38-year-old owner called 911 when he spotted the brick, as well as a full, black trash bag and other garbage that the suspect had dumped on the vehicle, police said. In a video released by the NYPD, a woman in a pink hooded jacket, blue jeans and black rainboots can be seen throwing items on the silver Cybertruck before taking off on a scooter. Detectives from NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force nabbed Cohen, 46 – who lives in an apartment just around the block from where the vehicle was vandalized – just before 3 p.m. Thursday, and slapped her with charges of aggravated harassment and criminal mischief as hate crimes. Her arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court was pending Saturday. Cohen's alleged crimes are the latest in a spate of attacks targeting Tesla owners and dealerships across the country, in protest of CEO Elon Musk's controversial role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency within the Trump Administration. On March 27, two vandals were caught on video brazenly carving a swastika and the word 'Nazis' on the side of a Cybertruck parked on Monroe Street in Bed-Stuy. The vehicle's camera captured one of the suspects crouching down to etch the fate-filled messages onto the car as his accomplice calmly stood by, cops said. No arrests have been made in that incident.
NBC News
05-04-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Vandalism at NYU Islamic prayer room under investigation as hate crime
The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating an act of vandalism reported earlier this week at an Islamic prayer space at New York University. A student who entered the space inside the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library on Thursday afternoon said they found "urine and obscene, lewd images defacing the walls," according to a statement from Faiyaz Jaffer, the associate chaplain of Global Spiritual Life at the university. "This was not simply an act of vandalism; it was a malicious and deeply disrespectful attack driven by anti-Muslim hatred," Jaffer said in the statement. The vandalism coincides with a string deportation attempts of multiple international students and scholars who were targeted by President Donald Trump's administration, some of whom are Muslim and have expressed support for Palestinian human rights, including Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk. Pictures posted to the Instagram account of NYU's Black Muslim Initiative show the vandalism, which appears to include a large drawing of a phallus. Another image shows what appears to be a wet stain near Islamic prayer mats. A criminal mischief report was filed with police and their hate crime task force was alerted. According to police, the perpetrator "scratched and chalked an image" inside the room at 70 Washington Square South on Thursday at around 4:40 p.m. "There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing," police said. In a statement, NYU spokesperson John Beckman called the vandalism "vile, reprehensible, and utterly unacceptable." "It contravenes every principle of our community, and we condemn this act of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate," Beckman said. Beckman vowed to hold those responsible for the vandalism accountable. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has called on state and federal law enforcement to launch a hate crime investigation into the vandalism, which they say happened "despite ongoing concerns raised by the campus Muslim community over the past year about their safety and the university's inaction." "We join students in demanding a full hate crime investigation and disciplinary action against the perpetrator," CAIR-NY Executive Director Afaf Nasher said in a statement. "No student should fear for their safety or dignity while practicing their faith." Jaffer said the vandalism's impact on the university's Muslim community was "immediate and severe," causing many students fear, anxiety and concerns for their well-being. He also emphasized that for Muslim international students — who already fear the Trump administration's recent policies cracking down on many who supported the pro-Palestinian movement — Thursday's vandalism has intensified their distress. The administration has already revoked over 300 student visas of foreign-born people. "We have a serious problem with Islamophobia and it is now time that we confront it," Jaffer said. "The hatred that motivated this act of vandalism is not something that will just disappear if we ignore it. It's a systemic issue, a disease that threatens to erode the very fabric of our institutions and society as a whole."
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Yahoo
Brooklyn Men Wanted for Vandalizing Cybertruck With Swastika
Two men are wanted for vandalizing a Cybertruck in Brooklyn, New York, after scratching a swastika on the side of the car in the early morning of Thursday, March 27. In video filmed by a camera built into the Cybertruck, two men are seen carving a swastika and 'Nazis' into the door panels of the car, according to the New York Police Department, who released the video. The incident is being investigated by the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force, according to local reports. Credit: NYPD via Storyful
