Leaders of the hareidi community in Brooklyn are demanding more police protection in the wake of another “knockout” attack against a member of the community last week.
New York has recently witnessed a spate of anti-Semitic attacks, as part of a wider phenomenon known as the "knockout game," in which gangs of black youths sucker punch innocent passersby - particularly targeting Jews in parts of New York. In response, police have arrested the alleged attacker of a 12 year old Jewish boy who was a victim of the "game.
“We cannot have a situation where young members of the community will be knocked unconscious as they walk down the street here,” said a spokesperson for the community. “There was clearly a failure of security on the part of local police and we must speak out about this.”
Last Friday night, yet another attack took place against a member of the Crown Heights community. A young yeshiva student was attacked as he was on his way home. He was attacked just a few feet from the entrance to his home.
As he approached the building, a youth followed him, and in an instant began attacking him. He struck the Jewish man several times on his head, without saying a word, the student said later. Eventually the student lost consciousness and fell down on the sidewalk.
He regained consciousness to find himself lying face down on the cold sidewalk. Amazingly, his attacker was still there. At that moment, another Jewish resident of the neighborhood passed by. The victim asked him to call the police. The perpetrator, meanwhile, ran into a building.
A police van was nearby and responded to the call. However, police refused to conduct a search of the building the culprit had vanished into. Police said that the victim would be unable to positively identify the culprit. Police took the victim's complaint and handed the case to detectives.