Police said that a New York man was charged Tuesday with firing a BB gun at a Jewish dad and son while they were grocery shopping.
Jason Kish (25), of Staten Island was charged with hate crime, assault, endangering child welfare, reckless endangerment, and assault in connection to the incident that took place on Sunday afternoon, according to the New York City Police Department.
According to the NYPD, the victims were a father of 32 and son of 7, who were standing in front a Kosher grocery on Staten Island. They were wearing yarmulkes at the time they were struck with BB gun pellets Sunday afternoon.
The Staten Island Shomrim Safety Patrol shared video of the incident online. It shows the father and son putting away a shopping cart outside Island Kosher. However, a black Ford Mustang with at most one window down drives past.
Video of the incident was shared online by a local Jewish safety group.
Staten Island Shomrim Safety Patrol
As the boy appears to be being struck by a BB gun bullet pellet, he can be seen grabbing at his ear. The father appears to then turn to see what has happened.
NYPD’s 121st Precinct released a Photoof the Ford Mustang on Twitter. It stated that its driver was wanted by two counts of hate crime assault.
Kish did not immediately indicate whether he had hired an attorney. NBC News reached out to Kish’s social media account.
The precinct declared that the suspect wanted in the BB gun attack had been arrested.
Eric Adams, New York City’s Mayor, said Tuesday that he was afraid that the boy who was allegedly the target of the shooting would never walk down that street again and not think about it.
Adams stated that “we are not going to let hate run our city,” noting that there had been a “substantial rise in hate crimes, especially antisemitism across the country”, including in New York which Adams claimed has the largest Jewish community outside of Israel.
He stated, “We must stop what’s happening online, we need stop the spreading hate, and we need to fight it in a very tangible way.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League which has been tracking antisemitic events since 1979, reports of antisemitic incidents in America hit records last year.
In recent weeks, antisemitic rhetoric has been especially prominent after Ye (formerly Kanye West) made several antisemitic remarks via social media, and praised Hitler during an hour-long interview with Alex Jones, a conspiracy theorist.
Monday’s announcement by the White House stated that Doug Emhoff , second gentleman, would host a roundtable to discuss antisemitism in America and counter it.
Roundtable participants include Susan Rice, White House Domestic Policy Advisor; Deborah Lipstadt, Ambassador to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism; Keisha Lance Bottoms (senior adviser to the President for Public Engagement); and Keisha Lance Tops.
Rebecca Shabad contributed.
