Two women attacked a 22-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in Williamsburg in New York, U.S. media reported on Thursday.
The women, who were arrested moments after the attack, are accused of using anti-Semitic slurs and exerting physical force on the young man.
The two African American women approached the 22-year-old Hasidic victim at Gerry and Rutledge Streets in Broadway Triangle where they began taunting him with anti-Semitic slurs, a law enforcement source said.
As the young man tried calling the police, the two suspects, 34-years-old and 24-years-old, grabbed his phone, shoved the man to the ground and threw the phone in his face.
Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind posted a photo of the two suspects on Twitter, asking in another tweet “When will NYC feel safe again for identifiable Jews?”
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter that police arrived at the scene immediately and that security measures will be reinforced in neighborhoods with large Jewish populations.
NYPD immediately canvassed the area and took two individuals into custody. The investigation is ongoing by the Hate Crimes Task Force. People MUST be able to walk their own neighborhoods free from fear, " wrote De Blasio. “NYPD has enhanced patrol presence in Jewish communities. Starting tonight, additional officers from the Strategic Response Group, the same highly-trained unit that helped keep New Yorkers safe in Times Square last night, will be on the streets."
The incident is followed by a host of anti-Semitic attacks plaguing New York City. On Wednesday, reports broke that a group of men attacked two ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in the Crown Heights neighborhood on December 24.
In the most severe attack recently, Grafton Thomas, 37, allegedly entered a rabbi's home in Monsey, Rockland County, during celebrations on Saturday evening for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, knifing several people with a machete, wounding five, before fleeing.