A hateful trio attacked three Jewish strangers – including a teen boy and a man heading home from a synagogue – in a spree that lasted less than an hour in Brooklyn last weekend, police said Thursday.
The violence began at around 3:25 p.m. Saturday when the three young-looking bigots came up to a 40-year-old man as he walked from his house of worship and pummeled him on East 15th Street and Avenue L in Midwood, cops said.
The suspects took off on a scooter and targeted their second victim, a 15-year-old boy, at around 4 p.m. as he walked at Avenue J and East 17th Street, according to police.
They punched and kicked the teen before running off, cops said.
Then a few minutes later, the trio randomly kicked a 27-year-old man who was walking at East 18th Street and Avenue L, before bolting again on foot, cops said.
All three victims suffered minor injuries and declined medical attention, cops said.
Police released surveillance photos late Wednesday of the suspects, who appear to be standing inside a bodega.
Two of them are shown wearing black and gray jackets and sweatpants, and the other is seen wearing a gray jacket over a red sweatshirt and sweatpants.
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the violent incidents, cops said.
Reports of bias-based crimes against Jewish victims within the Big Apple have seen an uptick this year — with 275 such cases reported between Jan. 1 and Sunday, according to the latest NYPD data available.
That marks an approximately 3% increase from the 268 hate crimes targeting Jewish victims that were reported during the same period in 2022, according to the stats.
The NYPD saw a surge in antisemitic offenses since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War in early October.
Overall, hate crimes are down 6.3% year-to-date, with 546 reported so far this year, compared to 583 for the same timeframe in 2022, the data shows.
