Two women have been slapped with hate crime charges for allegedly attacking a Jewish person who confronted them on the Upper West Side for tearing down posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas, cops said Monday.
Mehwish Omer, 26, surrendered to police Monday morning and was charged with assault and criminal mischief – both as hate crimes – in connection to the attack on the 41-year-old woman at the corner of Riverside Drive and West 82nd Street just before 10 p.m. Nov. 9, authorities said.
Her alleged accomplice, Stephanie Gonzalez, 25, was cuffed a week earlier and also faces a hate crime assault rap, as well as an attempted robbery charge, cops said.
The duo allegedly assaulted the victim — ripping off her Star of David necklace and knocking a cellphone out of her hand — after she challenged them for ripping the “Missing Persons” posters from a light pole at the intersection of Riverside Drive and West 82nd Street, according to police.
The victim exchanged words with the two strangers as she recorded the encounter on her cellphone, police said.
The suspects ran off after the attack.
The victim suffered minor injuries to her face and neck for which she declined medical attention, and her phone was damaged, cops said.
Neither Omer, of Manhattan Valley, nor Gonzalez, of Yonkers, have prior arrests, the NYPD said.
The assault is just one example of antisemitic suspects tearing down or vandalizing hostage posters that have been plastered all around the five boroughs since Hamas’ monstrous surprise Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state.
Mayor Eric Adams has described the disturbing incidents as a “deeply misguided act of disrespect to victims of terrorism.”
“As we see the fallout from this violence spill over into New York City, we must reiterate that hate has absolutely no place here,” he said.
Charlotte Wimer, who uses he/him pronouns, and Gray Segal, both 18, were arrested earlier this month after they were caught ripping down the posters on display outside a private property in Gramercy Park, cops said.
Other offenders include an NYU student who lost her job offer over the scandal, a Brooklyn man who was arrested after getting into a caught-on-video scuffle with people trying to stop him, and a public defender who got to keep her job after apologizing for her brazen actions.
