[IsraelTimes] Suspect allegedly punched an ultra-Orthodox man on a Brooklyn street during ShabbatNew York police arrested a suspect on Tuesday for allegedly punching a Jewish man on a street in Brooklyn last month.
The attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
The New York Police Department said it had arrested Babyson Dumervil, 24, and charged him with assault.
Police said the suspect crossed a street to approach an ultra-Orthodox man late at night and punched him in the nose.
The attack occurred on January 22 during Shabbat in the Crown Heights neighborhood.
Before the arrest, the Anti-Defamation League had offered a reward of $5,000 for information on the attack.
The arrest comes amid a string of antisemitic incidents in the New York region. On Tuesday, city Councilwoman Rita Joseph reported antisemitic graffiti in a New York subway station. She posted a photo showing the racial slur "kike" written on a wall five times. On Sunday, a truck driver shouted at Jews in Brooklyn, "Go back to your fucking country, let Hitler kill you." His company fired him for the comments.
On Saturday, a snow plow driver deliberately blasted two ultra-Orthodox Jewish men with snow in Lakewood, New Jersey. He posted the video online with the caption, "This one’s for you JC," apparently referring to Jesus Christ. The Anti-Defamation League called the incident "as dangerous as it is disturbing." His employer, Waste Management, fired him.
Last week, the Shmira Jewish community protection group said a man was chasing people with a machete in Brooklyn, and an assailant accosted a Jewish woman on a train in the borough.
"You little Jewish girl better get off this train before I hurt you," he said.
On Monday, New York police responded to threatening phone calls against Yeshiva University, although it wasn’t clear if they were motivated by antisemitism.
New York police made two other arrests for alleged hate crimes against Jews last month. In one incident, a woman told Jewish children, "Hitler should have killed you all" and spit on them. In another, a man allegedly assaulted a Jewish man for wearing an Israel Defense Forces sweatshirt.
Hate crimes usually do not result in arrests in New York.
Jews are targeted in hate crimes more than any other group in New York City, by far. The NYPD reported 198 confirmed hate crimes against Jews last year, out of 524 total hate crimes in the city.