Video shows man attacking Hasidic children in Brooklyn. Police searching for attacker
NEW YORK -- Two young Hasidic boys were attacked without any warning in Brooklyn earlier this week, and the entire incident was caught on video.
Police are looking for the attacker.
Video shows assault on 2 Hasidic boys in Williamsburg
Police say it happened just before 9 p.m. Sunday in Williamsburg on Franklin Avenue between Willoughby and Myrtle avenues.
According to police, two boys, ages 11 and 13, were playing on the sidewalk when a man on a bike stopped and told the boys to get off the sidewalk.
Seconds later, for reasons unknown, police say the man viciously assaulted one child, then the other, kicking and hitting them repeatedly.
Police say both boys were taken to a local hospital with head injuries. They are expected to be OK.
The attack is now being investigated as a possible hate crime.
"It's just absolutely awful. I cannot believe that somebody would attack children," City Councilmember Lincoln Restler said. "I am hopeful and confident they will identify this person and hold him accountable."
Jewish hate crimes on the rise in NYC
According to New York City Police Department statistics, Jewish hate crimes on the rise. Last year at this time, there were 86 incidents, compared to 131 this year.
Restler says this attack has now put the Jewish community, already at unease, on even higher alert.
"We've seen a scary rise in antisemitic incidents across our city over years now, and I'm very concerned that we've seen one of our most vile and violent incidents in some time," he said.