Attack on Jewish man on Upper East Side investigated by NYPD as antisemitic hate crime
The New York City Police Department is investigating an assault on the Upper East Side as a hate crime.
Police say the suspects yelled "Free Palestine" before punching a 72-year-old Jewish man.
The victim told CBS News New York's he's surprised it didn't happen sooner.
Victim recounts last week's attack
A few days a week, Amnon Shemi posts flyers around the city as a reminder of the Israeli hostages still in Gaza, alive and dead.
"I've been doing it since the war started," Shemi said.
Shemi said he was posting flyers not far from his home last Thursday at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 68th Street when a group of young men approached.
"They start yelling, 'Free Palestine, free Palestine" Shemi said, adding the confrontation escalated from there. "I got punched right over here. It's kind of hard to see it now."
Police are investigating the assault as a possible antisemitic hate crime.
"And I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, but I don't know what to tell you. Probably the war in Gaza is escalating the whole situation and antisemitism and all kinds of stuff," Shemi said.
Antisemitic crimes have increased for years, ADL says
Scott Richman of the Anti-Defamation League says antisemitic crimes, and incidents have been increasing sharply since 2013.
"The vast majority of what we track are not hate crimes, meaning you can't be arrested for it. These are in many cases harassment, speech-related, and for us, when we are tracking antisemitism, we need to track all of that in order to understand the state of antisemitism," Richman said.
For Shemi and his wife, Diane, the issue is personal. They have a cousin who was kidnapped in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
"It's a terrible feeling, you know? You wake up feeling and thinking about it, and you go to sleep feeling and thinking about it. It just kind of consumes you," Diane Shemi said.
So they say the threats of violence -- and now an act of violence -- will not stop them from posting more flyers.
"I'll keep doing it until everybody's home," Amnon Sheni said.
