Ariel Golfeyz sustained significant bruising to his face and sought further examination immediately after the incident.
By Ethan Kaufman, The Algemeiner
A Jewish man wearing a kippah was assaulted in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, DC on Wednesday morning in what police are investigating as a hate crime.
The attack occurred outside the Foggy Bottom metro station on 23rd St. and I St. in northwest DC on George Washington University (GW) property, next to the university’s hospital and across the street from the GW campus that was the site of raucous anti-Israel demonstrations this past academic semester.
Ariel Golfeyz, 31, from Baltimore, MD, lives in Foggy Bottom near the site of the assault and was on his way to work via the Metro station, listening to music.
He told The Algemeiner that he noticed a man — a medium-height black male of slight build with a beard — walking behind him unusually briskly for about a block, but thought little of it.
At 8:35 am, Golfeyz was approached from behind and “sucker punched” while being driven into the bushes and beaten, he recounted.
Defending himself, Golfeyz said the altercation lasted a full two minutes before a nearby GW Police Department officer arrived to deescalate the situation.
Personnel of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in DC arrived soon afterward.
Golfeyz sustained significant bruising to his face and sought further examination immediately after the incident. He believes he was targeted for wearing a kippah publicly.
Ariel Golfeyz after being assaulted in Washington, DC on June 10, 2024. Photo: Ariel Golfeyz
Ariel Golfeyz after being assaulted in Washington, DC on June 10, 2024. Photo: Ariel Golfeyz
“I was just walking and all the sudden I saw from the right side a fist, and I just fall to the ground and realized at that point in time — you feel your jaw cracking and I realized someone was trying to attack me,” Golfeyz recounted to The Algemeiner.
“And immediately after punching me he jumps on me and starts kicking and punching me, and at that point it was just fight or flight. And I just started fighting, covered myself, turned into a ‘curlball.’”
“I just couldn’t get him off of me because he continued kicking and punching,” Golfeyz continued. “I was in mortal physical danger.”
Golfeyz recounted how he grabbed the assailant’s neck and later bit him as a last resort — which, along with the MPD officer, allowed him to break free.
Regarding the police response, he commended how officers contained the assailant but was critical of how long it took to respond.
According to video footage recorded by Golfeyz and shared with The Algemeiner, the alleged attacker directed an antisemitic tirade at the victim as he was being filmed and held by police after the assault.
“They’re the cause of all our wars,” the man, who fit Golfeyz’s physical description, could be seen shouting.
“The children in Gaza, the children in Palestine, we know! We know who you are! We know the lies that you’ve told, that you have stolen the place of the true children of Israel.”
The man’s comment about the “true children of Israel” may be a reference to Black Hebrew Israelite ideology, which maintains that ancient Israelites were black and contemporary black people are their descendants.
Many adherents of this belief push antisemitic conspiracy theories and accuse the Jewish people of being “not the real Jews.”
“You’re a liar!” the man continued ranting, according to the video.
“You have stolen our birthright, and we know this to be true, and you have enslaved us, you have enslaved us a people. You now corrupt the banks and you corrupt the world. We know who you are! All of you!”
Video of the tirade can be seen in this link: footage of alleged attacker going on anti-Jewish rant
The alleged assailant could be seen seen expressing similar sentiments in other videos taken by the victim: “They are the ones who brought rap music into our communities … tainting the minds of our children … they control the music scene,” the man shouted.
“Now you hold the world ransom, because you control all the money and all the resources,” he continued. “We know you’ve corrupted our governments causing us to fight in wars overseas, we know what you’ve done! We know that you’re murdering innocent men, women, and children in Gaza!”
“You collect interest on the poor! How can people live with you who hold them captive!” he added.
Both GW police and the MPD took reports on the incident.
Walter James, 38, was reportedly placed under arrest for simple assault and a hate bias crime.
Based on conversations with police and the victim, it appears the suspect was initially going to be charged with simple assault, but it was amended and elevated to a hate crime investigation based on information provided to police by a witness, a homeless woman nearby.
The attack came amid a historic surge in antisemitic hate crimes across the US. In April, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a report showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high.
Most of the outrages occurred after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“Be very cognizant of your surroundings. Use situational awareness in everything you do,” Golfeyz said.
“And I would also say don’t trust anyone to come to protect you because no one came to get him off of me, and it took some time for Metro Police to come and get him off of me.”
Golfeyz told the local Fox 5 affiliate in DC that for now on he will most likely be concealing his “religious objects” when walking in public in the US capital city.