The NYPD is searching for two women who attacked a Jewish victim on the Upper West Side who confronted the duo as they tore down posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.
The 41-year-old victim confronted the two unidentified suspects just before 10 p.m. Thursday, when she saw them ripping the “Missing Persons” posters from a light pole at the intersection of Riverside Drive and West 82nd Street, according to police.
She “engaged the two females in a verbal dispute” as she recorded the incident on her cellphone, police said.
At that point, the two women assaulted the Jewish woman — ripping off her Star of David necklace and knocking the cellphone out of her hand, before fleeing on foot.
The victim sustained minor injuries to her face and neck, and her cellphone was damaged in the altercation.
Police have described the suspects as about 5 feet 6 and about 135 pounds with tan skin and black hair.
They were last seen wearing dark clothing, and one of the suspects had a nose ring.
The assault is just the most recent example of antisemitic protesters tearing down or vandalizing hostage posters that have been plastered all around the five boroughs since Hamas’ monstrous surprise Oct. 7 attack.
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.
But anti-Israel protesters have continued to tear down the posters, which include missing children, leading to the arrests of two 18-year-olds on Wednesday.
Charlotte Wimer, who uses he/him pronouns, and Gray Segal are charged with criminal mischief for tearing down the signs in Gramercy Park.
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.
Many New Yorkers are growing frustrated with the growing trend, including Rita Capozzi, who told The Post he is “in favor of people being arrested for ripping down these posters.”
“They’re thugs and these are mischievous, criminal acts,” he said. “During 9/11, this is what people did [putting up posters of missing people]. This is a crisis for Israelis. Ripping down pictures of innocent people is horrible.”
At least 1,400 people, most of them civilians, were killed by Hamas during its sudden assault on Israel.
Ever since, Israel has heightened its assault on Gaza, where 10,569 people have been killed, of whom 40% were children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
