An Orthodox Jewish man was brutally attacked on a New York City street by three men who fired a BB gun at him before punching him repeteadly in the head.
The NYPD's hate crime unit is now hunting for the three people who attacked the unidentified 23-year-old man at 10.30pm in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn on October 11.
Surveillance footage released by the NYPD on Thursday shows the man dressed in traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing walking down a street when he was approached by his three attackers in a dark-colored Hyundai Sonata with silver wheels.
One of the three men in the car fired an unknown projectile at the victim, believed to be a BB gun, which left him with a wound to the side of his head, officials reported.
The street surveillance footage obtained by the NYPD shows the victim fall to the ground after being hit by the projectile.
Stills from street surveillance footage shows an unidentified Jewish man, 23, being struck in the head with an unknown projectile on a Brooklyn street on October 11, 2021, by three men in a silver Hyundai
NYPD's hate crime taskforce is on the hunt for the three attackers who were in a gray Hyundai (pictured) at the time of the incident
In this latest incident, the victim was taken to a nearby hospital and was released shortly after.
The NYPD described the first individual being sought as a man between 20 and 30 years old, last seen wearing a blue sweater with beige pants. The second individual was described as a man between the ages of 20 and 30, last seen wearing a black hooded sweater, black pants, and yellow shoes. The third man was described as being between 20 and 30 years old, last seen wearing a red hooded sweater, black pants, and black and white sneakers.
This is the latest attack in New York City, which has seen a shocking 90% increase in hate crimes in the last year. In 2020, 229 hate crimes were reported while 435 have been reported so far this year, nearly double the amount.
The number of hate crimes across the United States in 2020 was the highest recorded since 2001, according to newly released data from the FBI, that also showed a 76 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes.
The report, released on Monday, found 8,263 criminal hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI in 2020, an increase of about 504 incidents since 2019. The spike comes as more local law enforcement agencies report crime incidents in their jurisdictions to the FBI compared to previous years.
In a 52-week citywide timeline, New York City has seen a 90 percent increase in hate crimes over the last year, from 229 hate crimes being reported in 2020 to 435 in 2021
In May, a Kippah-wearing Jewish man was attacked by a group of Palestinian protesters near Times Square.
Joseph Borgen was beaten by a group of five men yelling anti-Semitic epithets. He had been on his way to a pro-Israel demonstration on May 28th.
Video of the assault showed Borgen was left defenseless on the ground as he was battered by the angry mob outside of 1604 Broadway.
Waseem Awawdeh, 23, was the first man arrested over the violent assault and was charged with assault as a hate crime, gang assault, menacing, aggravated harassment as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
When he appeared in court prosecutors say he told a jailer: 'If I could do it again, I would do it again. I have no problem doing it again.'
Police have
