Video shows group attacking woman outside Brooklyn synagogue, NYPD investigating
Video shows a woman being attacked as protesters clashed outside a New York City synagogue that was being visited by Israel's far-right security minister.
Witnesses said two women were assaulted by hundreds of men on Thursday outside the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn, where Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was appearing.
Video shows group taunting woman and throwing objects
Ben-Gvir's presence in Crown Heights drew dueling groups of protesters, including pro-Palestinian activists and members of the neighborhood's Orthodox Jewish community.
The Israeli security minister has sparked controversy with what have been described as his far-right views.
Video of the incident outside the synagogue shows a large group of men and boys following and shoving a woman as a lone police officer tries to escort her away from the chaos.
"They were screaming at me, 'Go back to Palestine!' They were shouting, 'Death to Arabs!'" said the woman, a lifelong New Yorker who asked her name not be revealed.
The group was chasing, taunting and roughing her up as the officer walked her to a police car. They were shouting profanity, kicking and throwing objects at her.
"I felt just sheer terror. The police were not protecting me. They weren't doing anything and I realized at that point that I couldn't lead this mob of men to my home. I had nowhere to go. I didn't know what to do. I was just terrorized," she said.
She said she was bruised and shaken up before finally getting into the police car.
Woman wants NYPD to launch hate crime investigation
The woman said she wasn't part of either protest and walked over to the area to investigate after hearing police helicopters over her apartment.
It was not immediately clear why the group surrounded her.
Rabbi Motti Seligson, a spokesperson with Chabad-Lubavitch, said in a statement, "The violent provocateurs who called for the genocide of Jews in support of terrorists and terrorism -- outside a synagogue, in a Jewish neighborhood, where some of the worst antisemitic violence in American history was perpetrated, and where many residents share deep bonds with the victims of Oct 7 -- did so in order to intimidate, provoke, and instill fear. We condemn the crude language and violence of the small breakaway group of young people; such actions are entirely unacceptable and wholly antithetical to the Torah's values. The fact that a possibly uninvolved bystander got pulled into the melee further underscores the point."
"It is despicable," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement about the assault.
The mayor added the NYPD is investigating a series of incidents from Thursday's protest, including another protester who he said was harassed and injured.
On Monday night, a group gathered outside Barclays Center to rally in response to the incident.
"We are peaceful protesters. We're coming out to spread awareness," said Terrell Harper of the group We The People NYC. "That was disgusting and at the same time she said she wasn't even part of something, just coming down the street."
The woman said she hopes police investigate the attack as a hate crime.
Six people were detained by police at the protest. One was charged with assault and other crimes. The rest were issued court summonses and released.
