According to police, a woman verbally and physically attacked a father and his toddler son at a playground in Brooklyn earlier this week. The incident occurred at Edmonds Playground on DeKalb Ave. in Fort Greene on Tuesday. The attacker, who was wearing a black and white baseball cap, approached the 40-year-old father and son at around 12:30 p.m. She insulted them, accusing them of being terrorists, and then threw a cup of hot coffee at them. Fortunately, the boy was not injured.
In a brave move, the father, who was wearing a black and white checkered keffiyeh, recorded the incident on his phone. The footage captured the woman throwing the hot coffee, causing her to flee the scene. The New York Police Department (NYPD) has released the video in hopes of identifying and locating the attacker.
The NYPD has expressed concern over a recent increase in hate crimes in the city, particularly those targeting specific ethnic or religious groups. While hate crimes have decreased by 8% overall this year, there has been a surge in anti-Semitic incidents since the October 7th Hamas strike in Israel. Between that date and Monday, there have been 82 anti-Semitic incidents, compared to 31 during the same period last year. Additionally, there have been six anti-ethnic incidents, four of which involved Palestinians or individuals believed to be Palestinian, compared to just two last year.
Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny has urged the public to assist in locating the woman seen in the video, as it is crucial to hold individuals accountable for their actions and prevent further incidents.
