New York, NY, August 11, 2019… ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) expressed deep appreciation to NYPD for swiftly apprehending a suspect in connection with an alleged assault of two Jewish men in Crown Heights, Brooklyn Friday evening.  According to police and media reports, the perpetrator provoked the victims with anti-Semitic insults before violently attacking the men by spraying a canister of mace and hitting one victim on the head with a stick. In 2018, ADL recorded a 55% increase in anti-Semitic assaults in New York, relative to 2017.

“We are deeply disturbed by this alleged anti-Semitic assault in Brooklyn Friday evening,” said Evan R. Bernstein, ADL NY/NJ Regional Director. “The severity of this incident, which involved hurling anti-Semitic insults and subsequently attacking worshippers with pepper spray and a stick as they were getting ready for Shabbat, is deeply shocking. We are grateful for the swift action by NYPD in apprehending the individual allegedly responsible for this attack. This assault underscores the urgent need for communities in Brooklyn to come together and stop these profoundly troubling hate incidents from happening in our city.”