Police are searching for a man who burst into a kosher bagel store in Queens and demanded that it take down its Israeli flags and close, or he’d ‘burn the building down,’ as violence continues to plague the city.
Surveillance footage, which does not include video, released Tuesday by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force shows the suspect on November 10 entering Bagels & Co. on Union Turnpike and saying something that appears to startle two customers.
The man is accused of approaching a 26-year-old employee while filming with his phone, referring to Israeli flags the business displays outside, and saying, “Remove those Israeli flags and shut the business down, or I’ll burn the building down.’
The suspect faces aggravated harassment charges and police are offering a $3,500 reward to anyone with more information.
Police are searching for a man who burst into a kosher bagel store in Queens and demanded that it take down its Israeli flags and shut its business down or he’d ‘burn the building down'
Surveillance footage released Tuesday by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force shows the suspect making the threat on November 10
The suspect faces aggravated harassment charges for his threat to Bagels & Co. on Union Turnpike
It comes amid a spike in hate crimes, specifically against Jewish and Asian people.
On October 26, a man in Brooklyn was captured on camera going on an aggressive anti-Semitic rant as a woman walked down the street.
Ring surveillance footage recorded the unidentified man in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn yelling hateful profanities at a woman: 'Jewish b***h, the f**k outta here, the f**k outta here, you f**king Jewish b***h.'
He continues: 'That's why I wish Hitler was still here, murder your children, you and your husband.'
The camera is set above two doors semi-enclosed behind a staircase. The man is seen standing on the sidewalk during the day.
The family is off camera, and seems to catch his eye as he turns around and begins berating them. The disturbing video was tweeted by NY Scanner, an account that posts crowdsourced videos of crime and other wild scenes around New York City.
Earlier last month, a 23-year-old Orthodox Jewish man was shot in the head with a BB gun in a drive-by by three men in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.
An unidentified man went on an disturbing anti-Semitic rant in Flatbush, Brooklyn
Surveillance footage released by the NYPD 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 on 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. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital and was released shortly after.
Anti-Semitic crimes have soared since spring following the conflict between Israel and Gaza, in which 243 Palestinians were killed, including more than 100 women and children, and 12 people died in Israel.
That conflict, which ended with a ceasefire on May 21, also was blamed for a 75% spike in anti-Semitic attacks across the US. The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Semitic attacks, says 127 hate attacks on Jews were reported in the two weeks before the conflict, with 222 reported during the fortnight of clashes between Israel and Gaza.
Earlier last month, a 23-year-old Orthodox Jewish man was shot in the head with a BB gun in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn
In one such attack, a Kippah-wearing Jewish man was assaulted 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.'
Meanwhile, in June, a group of pro-Palestinian protestors burned an Israeli flag outside of
