Police are searching for a suspect who they say carried out an antisemitic assault on a 64-year-old man in the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn. Investigators are treating the attack as a hate crime, and they have released an image of the person they are trying to track down after the older man was knocked to the ground and left injured.
According to police, the encounter began when the suspect approached the man at an intersection along Ocean Avenue. Without the kind of dispute that often precedes a street fight, the person moved on the victim directly, targeting a 64-year-old who was going about his day in the Brooklyn neighborhood when he was set upon.
The assault turned physical and then hateful. Police say the suspect shoved the man to the ground, and then, as the victim was left on the pavement, made anti-Jewish remarks before running off. It is those remarks that pushed the case into the category of a hate crime rather than a simple assault in the eyes of investigators.
The attack, which happened on Tuesday, left the victim hurt. Police said the 64-year-old suffered injuries in the fall and the assault, and that he is now recovering at a local hospital. The image of an older man being knocked down and insulted over his faith has added to unease in the community over such incidents.
With the suspect still at large, police are leaning on the public for help. Investigators released a picture of the person they are looking for and asked anyone who recognizes the individual, or who has information about the attack, to come forward so the person can be identified and located as the search continues.
The assault is the latest in a string of reported antisemitic incidents that have put Jewish communities on edge. Police are urging residents to report any similar encounters, and the investigation into the Mill Basin attack remains active as authorities work to bring the person responsible into custody.