Media Coverage: CBS, ABC, NBC and Daily News Report on ‘Knockout’ Assaults

Following CrownHeights.info’s coverage of the latest assaults on Jewish children and adults, general media, including TV and newspapers, themselves covered the story. Police confirmed that 8 incidents are being investigated as unrelated and possible hate crimes.

Local TV stations took notice of this story after we obtained a copy of surveillance video showing Sunday night’s attack and published it. The video was recorded on Post-Mark-It’s surveillance system, and was used in all the news reports.

CBS 2 Reported:

“Brooklyn Rabbi: Gang of Teens Playing Disturbing Game of ‘Knock Out the Jew’”

The NYPD is looking into a series of attacks on Jews in Brooklyn. At least one attack was caught on surveillance tape.

Some of the assaults may be part of a disturbing game, CBS 2’s John Slattery reported on Tuesday.

Police have yet to connect all the incidents, but released surveillance video that shows one group attacking a Jewish man. The video shows from a few different angles the victim, a man in a hooded jacket, getting punched.

One man who didn’t want to be identified told Slattery his 12-year-old son was attacked in the same way.

“It’s clearly anti-Semitism,” the man said.

The 64-year-old said his son, who was dressed in traditional Jewish clothing, was attacked last Wednesday afternoon on President Street.

“One, full strength with his fist, whacked him, punched him, on the side of the face, full force,” the man said.

The child went to the ground as he heard the group of five to six teens yell out.

“A hysterical, happy shout, ‘We got him,’” the man said.

Video also shows a 19-year-old Jewish man being sucker-punched.

“He was actually holding an expensive camera. And they punched him and nothing was stolen,” Rabbi Yaacov Behrman said.

Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind said the attacks are not muggings. It’s not about money. He said the victims are being attacked because they are Jews.

Behrman said he believes the assaults are part of a disturbing game by some African-American teens.

“And they’re playing a game: ‘knockout.’ ‘Knock out the Jew,’ maybe. And they’re going around the neighborhood punching Jews,” Behrman said.

He said that in the last two months there have been assaults and three incidents of graffiti, incidents the police have confirmed, Slattery reported.

“I think there have been a total of eight since September, middle of September,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, referring to the total number of incidents.

The attacks and vandalism are being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force. The hope is that the suspects in the pictures will be identified.

The New York Daily News Reported:

“NYPD Investigating Crown Heights ‘Knockout’ Attacks on Jews As Possible Hate Crimes”

Police are investigating a series of seven attacks on Jews in Crown Heights, trying to determine whether they’re the product of anti-Semitic bias or simply a twisted “knockout” game being played by street hoods.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the Hate Crimes Task Force was looking into the two misdemeanor assaults, as well as three acts of graffiti vandalism and a claim of verbal harassment.

Yet the city’s top cop wouldn’t call the unrelated incidents a pattern.

“It is difficult to tell at this time,” Kelly told reporters Tuesday. “Obviously, some of it is based on descriptions. The crowds change in size, so it’s hard to tell if it is a clear pattern.”

The most recent anti-Semitic attack took place on Sunday when a group of black males allegedly attacked a Jewish resident at Kingston Ave. and Crown St.

“The attack was unprovoked and nothing was stolen,” said Behrman.

The neighborhood blog CrownHeights.info said Sunday’s assault was part of a “sick new ‘game’ called knockout, which is gaining popularity among inner-city youth at a startling rate.”

The second violent confrontation erupted on Nov. 6 when about 15 black youths approached a 12-year-old boy, punched him in the face and shoved him onto the sidewalk.

“The two attackers ran back to the group screaming, ‘We got him’” and received a roaring cheer,” Behrman said.

Religious leaders in the Orthodox and black neighborhood — still scarred by the 1991 riots that made it an emblem of the city’s simmering racial and ethnic discord — said the anti-Semitic incidents stretch back to September — and blasted the police for not making any arrests.

“We are extremely disappointed that no arrests have been (made) in any of these seven incidents,” Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, the executive director of the Jewish Future Alliance said.

“We call on the NYPD to increase their efforts, to include larger police presence during prime hours and to distribute posters with identifying information to insure the perpetrators are brought to justice.”

ABC 7 Reported:

“Brooklyn String of Alleged Hate Crimes Under Investigation”

A hate crime investigation is underway in Brooklyn, where there have been at least eight incidents since September, everything from acts of vandalism to violence.

All of the victims are Jewish.

The surveillance video shows the most recent assault in Crown Heights 9:30 last Sunday night as a group of young African-American males crosses the intersection at Kingston and Crown.

One of them can be seen punching a 20-year-old Jewish man in the face.

Miriam Schmuckler says she encountered the same group just moments before.

“They looked very, I don’t know, they look like they were up to trouble and they were drinking alcohol,” said Schmulder.

Police confirm this is just one of eight incidents now being investigated by the NYPD’s hate crimes task force.

“I don’t think it’s part of an overall racial tension in the area, it’s just something that’s some how got into the minds of some youngsters,” said Rabbi Eli Cohen of the Jewish Community Council.

But all of the victims have been Jewish and the alleged attackers African-American, including an October assault on a young Jewish woman on Crown Street. And just last Wednesday a 12-year-old boy was punched and knocked to the ground near Brooklyn Avenue and President Street.

Anti-Semitic graffiti has also been spray-painted around the neighborhood.

Community leaders are vowing to get to the bottom of this.

“When I heard of an incident that may have been a bias crime, be it religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation, we need to come together as a community to say no we’re not going to tolerate this anymore,” said district leader Jeffrey Hamilton.

As detectives went door-to-door along Kingston Avenue Tuesday looking for additional surveillance video that might lead them to those responsible, some here demanded more be done.

“I would like to see posters distributed looking for information,” said Rabbi Yaacov Behrman of the Jewish Future Alliance. “I would like to see the police offer a reward. I’d like to see an increase in police presence during prime hours between 3 and 7 and frankly I’d like this to end.”

NBC 4 Reports:

Recent Attacks:

11/10/13 – Jewish Man Assaulted as Part of Sick ‘Knockout’ Game
11/6/13 – 12-Year-Old Boy Assaulted While Playing Outside
10/31/13 – 11-Year-Old Boy Assaulted in Lefferts Park
10/29/13 – Criminals Target Young Women in Crown Heights
10/21/13 – Man Attacked by Thug Calling Him ‘Dirty Jew’
10/11/13 – Public School Teacher Assaulted on Crown St.

34 Comments

  • yossi

    it was a mistake to call the media .the police could find these guys without the media .all its going to do now create copycats bec now all the black kids know about this and there chas vshalom be more of this knockout

    • are you serious?

      We shouldn’t report anything or publicize it in case we get the goyim mad? What do you think this is, 1938 Germany? It may be in that there is no protection for Jews, but WE are not scared lemelech any more. We can and must stand up for ourselves and demand protection.

    • Goy Daddy

      It is not just Jews that are not protected. No one is protected.

      Whites are regularly beaten in the knockout game and a handful of the elderly have even died.

      There was no media attention at all, rather the media buries the stories.

      No one is allowed to stand up to black hate crimes. To do so would shine a light on the degradation of morals in the black community, which is the 500 lb gorilla in the room.

      In modern America, to defend yourself against blacks is racist.

  • @Yossi

    You’re obviously not aware that you can watch hours worth of home made “knockout” videos on the web. This sick game is the hottest thing with black kids now. They’re not finding out about it from this report…

    …but experience has shown that going to the media is the only way to pressure the police to act.

  • camera

    we need cameras on every corner rolling 24/7

    i dont care if they see me scratching my behind, i want to see them catch these thugs

    and they should be monitored by shomrim 24/7

    so we can catch them in the act and see where they are going

  • mendy

    it doesn’t look like anyone called the media… it looks like the media figured out what our own people are still denying: there’s a pretty bad story going on. that’s why kelly spoke about it and why reporters are all over it.

    There’s nothing shameful about saying you refuse to be beaten just because you’re a Jew.The reporters in Crown heights are not causing the beatings. The thugs are and they don’t need your permission to continue.

    • CHI

      big credit and thanks goes out to crownheights info who keeps the police force on its toes by keeping up coverage of crime in the area. if not for them we would never have marked on the precinct the day after alon sherman was beaten. thanks to them the spilling of much more jewish blood has been prevented. dont forget shomrim who keep watch on our streets as well. they both go hand in hand.

  • boy from the hood

    Eli Cohen is a dunce . and no backbone .

    this black vs Jew and black vs white

    wake up English man

  • hat_glasses_beard

    I’m not going to rant about how we need to change the CH Community Council… but can someone convince them to bring someone onto the team who can talk/dress like a mentch?

    Where is Zaki Tamir? He is well put together and I’m guessing well spoken.

    If you’re going to ‘represent’ Crown Heights, please put on a normal hat or don’t wear one at all. Please remember that you are the worlds ‘window’ into our community. Sit straight, and perhaps consider getting a haircut?

    This is not nearly as bad as some of the other times Crown Heights has been on the news, but common…

  • hat_glasses_beard

    Please get your education about the “Knockout Game”:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF9lV319yg4

    No Rabbi Behrman:
    It is NOT a game targeting Jews.
    It is NOT a game targeting white people.
    It IS a game targeting people who are alone, and defenceless. It is a game that highlights the problem with (black?) youth.

    (And it is the job of parents, educators, and the police to take care of this issue…)

    This is not to say that the local kids are not targeting Jews. I dont think its a question that local black teens ‘dislike’ their Jewish neighbors. But are you any better?! Go ask your kid what he thinks about his black neighbors…

    …Do you like what you hear??

    • Yarmulka

      1) The link you provide shows yoooouuths (who happen to be black) punching random people (who happen to be white).
      and in Crown Heights it’s yoooouuths (who happen to be black) punching random people (who happen to be Jewish).
      2) Your assumption of what a Jewish kid would SAY about their black neighbors even if true is not comparable to punching people with intent to knock them out.
      3) After many years of minimal racial tension in Crown Heights where seeing black teenagers didn’t arouse suspicion it would be foolish to do so now. Not my fault.

    • Jackson Bean

      They know not to play that in my neighborhood. The whole group would be shot. They are all cowards.

  • But under other auspices

    To # 5:

    GIve it a different name. The JDL, Kahane and anything associated, are on the State Department list of terrorist organizartions. You will be watched very closely, just like Al-Quieda.

    They may even take covert action against you, CH”V.
    In jail, they staged the “suicide” of JDL leader, Irv Rubin, probably in order to say to the Arabs,”See! We’re being even-handed, so help us in our war against terrorism.”

  • TZIVIA PEKKAR [C.H].

    B.H. Put up flyers offering a reward, and I am sure we will catch these copy cats, and put an end to these “HATE CRIMES’, of ‘KNOCKOUT’for that is what they are.

  • z

    I got mugged once… I went and took krav maga for 3 yrs… trained super hard… I’d love to see these thugs try st like this on me

  • Yossel

    I don’t care who is doing it..this needs to be publicized and stopped!! I’m glad the media has brought it to national attention.

    And the Jewish community needs to stand up and stand strong, marching on the 71st precinct if necessary.

    Let us not be lemelach any more! The black community needs to understand that living together means mutual respect!

    NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!

  • tinfoil Borsalino

    PUT LIGHTS outside your home and on every street!

    Every home in Crown Heights should have lights on the front, back and sides – either on a timer for night or motion sensor.

    You can’t behave this way when it is light out.

  • Elexis Smith

    I don’t understand how knocking innocent people out is a way of having fun… This is ridiculous. It can be anyone. It could be a mother walking with her children.

    I happen to work as a social media community manager for a company called ICE BlackBox. It’s a new app that’s free and it allows you to defend yourself in a dangerous situation. I’m trying to get the word out to as many people as possible because it can help protect anyone from this new “knockout trend” and help deter crimes such as rape, domestic violence, and abuse. To give just a little more information about what the app does, it streams video, audio, and GPS location and sends a link to anyone’s ICE contacts. It also allows you to directly call 911. Please help spread the word about this, as there are more people who learn about this, many lives can be saved.

  • meir bat ayin

    we have a potent force of young soldiers just out of the idf. we don’t need curtis sliwa or an other organization. just organize our own.i promse you we will have no enemies,period.

  • Heshy R

    Where is the violence in the B&W video (second from the top)? I watched it several times and don’t see anything but people walking by without incident. Someone please give minute and second. Thanks.

  • Jonathan Rothschild

    what is wrong with you people. Yes those kids were wrong and at some point natural selection will run its course with them, but lets just stop acting like its blacks vs Jews. I am black and also Jewish, of the Yemen Disposition with German ancestry, hence the name Rothschild. Those kids are just that, kids acting like animals. try going to the mid west or Virginia you will see the same attitude, just with a different color. I blame parents for having children and not growing them right, hence things like this result. There is no black vs Jew, its right actions vs wrong actions.

  • declasse' intelelctual

    All this does is remind me of the famous line from MCBETH:
    Until this new administration makes it clear not only with the proclamations, but their actions that this type of “hate games” will not be tolerated in any shape or form, expect more of the same! However, I have very litte faith in this new administration, especially the Mayor, because they have given the impression of following through on political correctness.

  • Larry

    To#14 i ask my kids you right they Hate black do you know why……. But my kids dont come up with such games o and PS they dont wear their pants half way down

  • walkerny

    Jews should stop voting Democrat as a block and vote for their own interests, which is a city run BY grownups FOR taxpayers. We had it for 20 years. If you think Knockout is bad, wait until you see what 4 years of DeBlasio (Dinkens) will bring.

  • Owen Marshall

    Where are the hypocrites Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson? If this was a gang of young white punks cowardly assaulting black pedestrians, they would be all over MSNBC crying how outrageous this is! This is why they have as much credibility as Obama. Which is NONE!