Two teenagers chase an ultra-Orthodox man in Williamsburg

Two teenage boys were caught on a surveillance video chasing an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York City.

Two teenage boys chased an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York, reports The Jerusalem Post.

A surveillance camera recorded the incident – the video shows the boys running toward the fleeing man. They ran past two other ultra-Orthodox men, one of whom made a gesture and appeared to say something, but they did not appear to chase the suspects.

On a turn, the Jewish man’s shtreimel (fur hat) fell off, which one of his pursuers picked up, but then dropped again.

While this particular incident did not end in violence, according to a January report by The Jerusalem Post, there had been a 300% increase in antisemitic hate crimes in New York City in January 2022 compared to January 2021. Fifteen separate incidents targeting Jews were reported, and in one case, an ultra-Orthodox man was beaten with an object until he had a laceration on his head.