Suspect nabbed after Hasidic man assaulted in Brooklyn

Attacker threw liquid on passing Orthodox Jewish man before attacking him in an assault captured by a security camera.

By World Israel News Staff

A 52-year-old Hasidic Jewish man was assaulted in broad daylight in Brooklyn on Saturday morning while walking to synagogue, in an attack caught on surveillance video that New York police are investigating as a possible antisemitic hate crime.

The incident occurred at approximately 8:40 a.m. near the intersection of Bedford Avenue and Heyward Street in Williamsburg, a neighborhood home to one of the largest Hasidic Jewish communities in the United States.

According to local reports, the victim was on his way to Sabbath morning prayers as his family celebrated the Sheva Brachot, the traditional week of festivities following his son’s wedding.

Surveillance footage circulated on social media shows the suspect approaching the visibly Jewish man and throwing an unidentified liquid onto him before a physical confrontation erupted.

The victim fought back against his alleged attacker, with the two men exchanging blows and eventually wrestling on the roadway. Several bystanders subsequently intervened to separate them and subdue the suspect.

Williamsburg News, which published footage of the incident, described it as a “Shocking video of the unprovoked hate crime assault” on a Jewish pedestrian.

Members of the Williamsburg Shomrim neighborhood security organization responded to the scene, along with officers from the New York Police Department’s 90th Precinct. The suspect was taken into police custody.

Emergency medical personnel from Hatzalah treated the victim, who was reportedly transported to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

Police are investigating whether the victim was deliberately targeted because of his Jewish identity. Authorities have not publicly confirmed the suspect’s identity, the charges against him or a possible motive.

The assault came less than a week after another suspected antisemitic incident in Williamsburg, where four school buses serving Jewish educational institutions were vandalized with swastikas and anti-Jewish graffiti on November 2.

The vandalism, which included messages such as “Free Palestine” and “America First,” prompted a separate investigation by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.

Phylisa Wisdom, executive director of New York City’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, condemned that incident, declaring, “The antisemitic vandalism targeting school buses in South Williamsburg is abhorrent.”

City Council member Lincoln Restler, whose district includes Williamsburg, similarly denounced the vandalism, saying, “The decade-long rise in antisemitic incidents must be stopped.”

According to NYPD figures cited by amNewYork, anti-Jewish incidents accounted for approximately 52.9% of confirmed hate crimes in New York City during the first nine months of 2026, despite Jews representing roughly one-tenth of the city’s population.

Saturday’s assault has renewed concerns about the safety of visibly Orthodox Jewish residents in Brooklyn, where community security volunteers regularly coordinate with police in responding to threats and attacks.

As of Sunday, authorities had not announced whether formal hate-crime charges would be filed against the arrested suspect.