A Brooklyn woman said she feared for her life as she was chased, kicked, spit at and pelted with objects by a mob of Orthodox Jewish men who mistook her as a participant in a protest against Israel’s far-right security minister.
The assault, recorded by a bystander, unfolded on Thursday near the global headquarters of the Chabad Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights, where an appearance by Itamar Ben-Gvir set off clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and members of the neighborhood’s large Orthodox Jewish community.
The woman, a neighborhood resident in her 30s, told the Associated Press she learned of the protest after hearing police helicopters over her apartment. She walked over to investigate around 10.30pm but by then the protest had mostly dispersed. Not wanting to be filmed, she covered her face with a scarf.
“As soon as I pulled up my scarf, a group of 100 men came over immediately and encircled me,” said the woman, who spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety.