By COLlive reporter
In the latest in the ongoing series of incidents of harassment and assault against Jews in New York, a passerby spat at and cursed a Jewish man in Crown Heights on Wednesday.
Jack Blachman, a Crown Heights resident, told COLlive that he intervened after seeing a man harassing two Jewish children near Albany Avenue and Carroll Street.
After Blachman followed the man for 5 blocks and called the police, the man subsequently turned on Blachman aggressively and shouted at him that Jews had “created a cult.”
Blachman recorded a video of the man shouting anti-Semitic expletives at him.
“Y’all created the cult,” he said, after using anti-Semitic slurs, and spat in Blachman’s face.
Blachman said he reported the incident to the police, who said the man could not be arrested since he had not committed an assault, but Blachman was able to file a harassment complaint.
“The moral of the story is, if you see someone attacking Jews, do not ignore it,” Blachman told COLlive. “take a video and call the police. Do not walk away.”
Blachman shared photos and videos of the man, hoping to warn other residents to be on the lookout for this man.
“If you see this thug attacking anyone, please report him to the 71st Precinct, as they now have a record of him attacking Jews,” he said.
This latest attack follows another similar incident on Tuesday, when a man hurled anti-Semitic expletives at Manhattan Shliach Rabbi Uriel Vigler.
Spitting is not an assault?
Not in NY. Goes under harassment
Ummm–the crime is battery, not assault. And yes, spitting on someone is, without a doubt, battery. A battery is “any offensive touching,” including spitting. The man needs to try to file a criminal complaint again.
NYS Penal Law has no such charge called Battery.
Um actually, Battery is the legal term for the above action.
…go ahead find it in the NYS Penal Law and prove me wrong!
Ill help you out
In criminal cases, New York statutes charge people with assault. There is no criminal battery in New York. Under New York penal law, the definition of assault is intentionally striking another person, and causing injury to that person. Assault and battery are two different torts that are in civil cases, although there can be an overlap between the two. In terms of criminal cases, people are only charged with assault.
How is this not assault???? I am appalled!
I HOPE SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS TO ME NEXT TIME I AM CROWN HEIGHTS…I PROMISE THAT VERMON WILL NEVER BOTHER A JEW AGAIN!
Thanks @jackBlachman for standing up for our children. I hope everyone else learns from you. We need to be a proud nation.
Looks like a loser with nothing better to do than harass children and other strangers.
. . . I see so much spitting on the ground I don’t know whether this neighborhood brings up its (non-Jewish) kids to spit instead of swallow, or this spitting is really done on purpose, as a grub thing to do when one sees a Jew. I make a point of not noticing and not showing that I notice when it’s done: If it’s the latter, these people thrive on “getting our goat.” It doesn’t really even get my goat; I just think it’s pathetic. Of course it’s unsanitary and quite icky, and I think there are also laws against… Read more »