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ebonlockPolice: N.Y. subway riders beaten after 'Happy Hanukkah' greeting
By The Associated Press
Four Jewish subway riders who wished other people Happy Hanukkah were pelted with anti-Semitic remarks before being beaten, New York police and prosecutors said. The incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The four were on a train in Manhattan on Friday night, during the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights, when they were approached by a group of 10 people who offered holiday greetings. The victims responded, Happy Hanukkah and were assaulted by the larger group, police said Tuesday.
Police caught up with the train in Brooklyn and arrested eight men and two women, ages 19 and 20. They were arraigned Saturday on charges of assault, menacing, riot, harassment and disorderly conduct, the Brooklyn district attorney's office said.
The case was being handled by the office's civil rights bureau, and charges could be upgraded to hate crimes, prosecutors said. The two men and two women who were attacked had bruises and welts on their faces and heads but were not hospitalized, police said.
One of the men charged, Joseph Jirovec, pleaded guilty last year to attempted robbery as a hate crime and was awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said. Jirovec, who is white, was part of a group that yelled racial epithets and assaulted two black teenagers in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.
Jirovec's lawyer, Peter Mollo, said Tuesday it was unlikely his client would attack someone for being Jewish. His mother was Jewish, Mollo said. It's very unlikely he would do something like this at all.
By The Associated Press
Four Jewish subway riders who wished other people Happy Hanukkah were pelted with anti-Semitic remarks before being beaten, New York police and prosecutors said. The incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The four were on a train in Manhattan on Friday night, during the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights, when they were approached by a group of 10 people who offered holiday greetings. The victims responded, Happy Hanukkah and were assaulted by the larger group, police said Tuesday.
Police caught up with the train in Brooklyn and arrested eight men and two women, ages 19 and 20. They were arraigned Saturday on charges of assault, menacing, riot, harassment and disorderly conduct, the Brooklyn district attorney's office said.
The case was being handled by the office's civil rights bureau, and charges could be upgraded to hate crimes, prosecutors said. The two men and two women who were attacked had bruises and welts on their faces and heads but were not hospitalized, police said.
One of the men charged, Joseph Jirovec, pleaded guilty last year to attempted robbery as a hate crime and was awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said. Jirovec, who is white, was part of a group that yelled racial epithets and assaulted two black teenagers in Brooklyn, prosecutors said.
Jirovec's lawyer, Peter Mollo, said Tuesday it was unlikely his client would attack someone for being Jewish. His mother was Jewish, Mollo said. It's very unlikely he would do something like this at all.
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no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 08:31 pm (UTC)yeah like there's no history of self hating Jews...
Stuff like this always makes me sigh and wonder about the human race, whether it's rage against my own race, gender, religion, etc or against others. I do appreciate you posting. I'm always amazed at how many people I come across who think there isn't much antisemitism, or any other aggresive hating of various grops and they live in a bubble and need to have this stuff put in front of their faces to wake them up.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 08:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-14 08:57 pm (UTC)Merry Fucking Christmas, indeed.
And then, on the other hand...
Date: 2007-12-18 05:06 pm (UTC)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7149916.stm