Brooklyn March Protests Anti-Semitic Vandalism
Scores of people marched through a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn Sunday to protest the anti-Semitic vandalism that struck the area two days earlier.
Demonstrators marched down Ocean Parkway, including one carrying an Israeli flag, near the Midwood corner where several cars were torched by hate-filled vandals who scrawled swastikas and “KKK” tags on cars.
Jews in the borough are worried over an uptick in hate crimes, the Daily News reported Monday morning.
“I’ve never seen this level of violence here,” state Assemblyman Dov Hikind told the Associated Press. “This goes beyond the pale — blowing up cars in the middle of the Jewish community.”
Authorities said they believe alcohol contributed to the spree. They lifted fingerprints and DNA evidence from 27 empty beer bottles left at the scene early Friday morning, the Daily News reported.
Prosecutors vowed to bring the vandals to justice.
“We’re not going to tolerate this in Kings County or anywhere else in the city,” District Attorney Charles Hynes told reporters.
Protestors believe the incident was timed to coincide with the 73rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, in which Nazis unleashed a series of attacks on Jews in Germany.
“The fact that this most recent attack came on the heels of the 73rd anniversary of Kristallnacht may or may not be a coincidence,” New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement, JTA reported. “Either way, this kind of hateful act has no place in the freest city in the freest country in the world.”
The mayor called the person or persons who perpetrated the attack “twisted.”
New York Councilman David Greenfield offered a $1,000 reward and the Anti-Defamation League offered a $4,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the attack.
Residents woke up Friday morning to find cars torched and graffiti marring the usually quiet neighborhood.
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