US anti-Semitism: Chabad followers and Jewish-looking residents of the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, have been suffering in recent days from gangs of antisemitic youths who are harassing them violently.
During the last Friday and Saturday, calls were received at the ultra-Orthodox volunteer center “Guarding Crown Heights” about young people from minorities who cling to and abuse Jews, especially when they return from the synagogue at the end of prayers, near the Peretz municipal park in the Hassidic neighborhood.
According to a report on the local website Crown Heights Info, close to twenty teenagers attacked a Chabad follower outside the park last night (Saturday night), which is the third incident of its kind in the park that has been reported in “Guards” since Friday.
According to a preliminary investigation of the incident, the boys who played ball threw it at the victim, when he returned from prayer in the synagogue. They even threatened the young Hasidic, and harassed him. “Thanks to the quick response of our volunteers, they fled the area, thus preventing escalation,” the guards reported.
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The organization’s volunteers even followed the boys after they dispersed, but the police were unable to identify from the documentation the boys suspected of the assault so no one has been arrested so far. However, New York County’s 71st District Police Department, which is also in charge of the Crown Heights neighborhood, promised to step up park security throughout Passover.
The volunteer organization, which in many cases responds to events long before police forces arrive, has released video footage of the incident showing the gang exchanging words with two Chabad followers, when a young man from the gang was seen throwing something that hit one of the followers.
Two similar incidents occurred on Friday evening, in which groups of non-Jewish children and youths attacked ultra-Orthodox children. In both cases the guards responded quickly and managed to weaken the situation.