Hate Crimes Task Force Investigating Latest Anti-Semitic Attack In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The NYPD are looking for the man behind another violent attack in Brooklyn.
The incident marks the latest in a disturbing trend. It's another violent attack on a Jewish person that the NYPD is investigating as a hate crime.
Police say it happened Saturday around 1 p.m. in front of 545 Broadway in Williamsburg.
The 42-year-old victim was punched in the face by a person he did not know who was shouting anti-Jewish slurs at him.
The attacker ran off.
It is just the latest in an alarming number of such incidents, some captured on video.
The NYPD has reported a 67 percent increase in hate crimes since the beginning of the year: 145 incidents compared to 87 for the first four months of 2018. Eighty two of the 2019 incidents were anti-Semitic - an 82 percent increase.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has now directed the New York State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist in the investigation into the most recent attack.