Jewish Man Punched in The Face Morning After NYPD Announces Arrest of Two Hate Crime Offenders

By Yehudit Garmaise

The morning after the NYPD announced the arrests of two perpetrators of hate crimes that targeted Orthodox Jewish men, another Jewish man took a hit in Williamsburg.

“No one deserves to be victims of such senseless, hateful violence,” NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said last night at the press conference where the arrests were announced and crime was addressed. 

“To be clear, the NYPD works hard every day and will never tolerate hate or violence in NYC.”

Last month, the NYPD recorded the number of hate crimes that targeted Jews as 15, which has almost doubled from the eight hate crimes that were perpetrated against Jewish people in July 2022: showing an increase of 114%.

Commissioner Sewell pointed out that “the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force increased its rate of arrests for perpetrators of hate crimes by 103% this year, compared to last year, and by 45% for hate crimes that target Jewish New Yorkers.”

While Sewell said the NYPD “will not rest until every victim receives justice,” Rabbi Moshe Indig, who graciously thanked the NYPD for its help and protection, pointed out that without changes to bail reform, NYC is like a house with an open hole that allows mice to come in again and again.

“The police department is doing a terrific job,” Rabbi Indig said. “The problem is ‘the hole in the [bail reform] system,” which only legislators can fix by not continuing to allow arrested perpetrators from returning to the streets hours later. 

“That violent anti-Semites are acting with impunity in NYC is sadly to be expected,” tweeted Dov Hikind, who formerly represented Boro Park’s District 48 as an assemblyman. “But it’s especially painful to see an attack on a Jew in which other Jews are literally just standing around, watching and barely reacting!

“Jewish law requires self-defense!

When Jews are under attack, however, it is natural to assign blame on surrounding witnesses, but one volunteer for Shomrim in both Boro Park and Williamsburg said he would not criticize civilians but the perpetrators themselves.

“It’s easy and cool to blame,” said the Shomrim volunteer. “However, you probably wouldn’t get involved either. Neither would I as a civilian, but as a member of Shomrim, it is my job to get involved.

“As civilians, we are afraid, and rightfully so.”

Knowing that he is expressing what may prove to be an unpopular opinion, the Shomrim member said, “There’s zero blame on civilians for not getting involved.

“Shomrim members are not afraid to get involved (in most cases) because they are trained and they have previously apprehended criminals.”

Orthodox Jews who witness attacks, G-d forbid, should write down license plate numbers, call the police and Shomrim, and “most likely perpetrators will be identified and arrested,” the Shomrim volunteer said reassuringly.