The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday condemned an attack against an Orthodox Jewish woman which occurred in Crown Heights, Brooklyn this past Monday.
ADL also announced it is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailant.
According to police and media reports, a legally blind Orthodox Jewish woman was attacked at approximately 2:30 p.m. Monday afternoon on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights.
The 62-year-old woman was verbally harassed with offensive, anti-Semitic language by the assailant, who then pulled off the woman’s wig, according to the ADL statement.
“We are in shock over this senseless, unprovoked attack,” said Evan R. Bernstein, ADL New York Regional Director. “This manifestation of anti-Semitism, which we wholeheartedly condemn, is as upsetting as it is clear, unambiguous hate. For anyone’s religious practice or dress to be attacked is an affront to all New Yorkers and the values we hold dear.”
“We commend the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force for investigating this attack as a hate crime," Bernstein continued. "With the time of day of this attack, someone must have seen something. We encourage anyone with information to contact the authorities and hope this reward facilitates the swift apprehension of the person behind this horrific assault.”
In April, a man littered the streets of the hassidic Jewish community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with anti-Semitic flyers as he drove his motorcycle through the streets.
The flyers featured multiple anti-Semitic statements and referred to the Holocaust as a "myth."
In June, the iconic “Mitzvah bus” was torched in Brooklyn.
The Mitzvah bus, a repurposed school bus used as both an art piece and a studio, was the creation of Crown Heights artist Lev Scheiber, who goes by the moniker “Leviticus”.
A suspect was later arrested but was not charged with a hate crime and only with arson.