Caught on camera: Attack on Orthodox Jewish boys in Brooklyn sparks hate crime investigation

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 on Sunday evening.

The attack in Brooklyn, captured on video, prompted the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Hate Crimes Unit to open an investigation into the possibility of an anti-Semitic motive New York Post reported. The attack on boys ages 11 and 13 occurred on Franklin Avenue near Myrtle Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 9 p.m. Sunday.

Witnesses described how the attacker stopped his bike between parked cars and then aggressively confronted the children, who were wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing. The defendant pushed one boy to the ground and knocked over another before kicking and trampling him.

Although police noted minor injuries, including cuts to the back of the head, they did not report any explicit anti-Semitic statements by the attacker. The perpetrator fled the scene on his bicycle and as of Thursday there had been no arrests in connection with the incident. The investigation is ongoing as the war in Gaza has led to a rise in anti-Semitism in the United States and Europe.

Last year, the New York-based Jewish advocacy group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 8,873 incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States, the highest number since the organization began collecting data in 1979. The annual audit was released by the Jewish Civil Rights group. The group reported a 140% increase from the previous year, surpassing the all-time high set in 2022.

These incidents, which include harassment, vandalism and assault, represent a significant increase from the nearly 3,700 cases reported in 2022. The majority of documented incidents, 6,535 in total, involved harassment characterized by anti-Semitic slurs, stereotypes or Conspiracy theories against Jews were characterized by individuals or those perceived as such. This category includes both online and in-person events. The ADL’s audit found 2,177 incidents of vandalism and 161 assault incidents.