Anti-lockdown protesters gathered outside the home of journalist Jacob Kornbluh (William Miller / NYP)
A group of anti-lockdown protesters gathered at a journalist’s home in New York on Sunday after the arrest of an Orthodox Jewish activist who allegedly incited a mob to attack him.
Crowds stood outside the Brooklyn home of Jacob Kornbluh, who is also Orthodox, and chanted “no Heshy, no peace,” as one person shouted into a megaphone, The New York Post reported. Around 100 people were present and the police intervened to protect the building.
Mr Kornbluh thanked people for their support on Sunday, tweeting: “People from Ty. I love you all.”
The protest comes after city council candidate Harold “Heshy” Tischler was arrested in connection with the assault on Mr Kornbluh in the Borough Park area last week.
Mr Kornbluh, a Jewish Insider reporter, said he was attacked by a group of angry protesters “ordered” by Mr Tischler during a protest against coronavirus restrictions last Wednesday.
The reporter was reporting on the second night of protests by Orthodox Jews in Borough Park when a crowd chased him calling him “Nazi” and “Hitler.”
“I was brutally assaulted, punched in the head and punched down by an angry mob of hundreds of members of the Boro Park protest community – all while shouting at me ‘Nazi’ and ‘Hitler’ – after Heshy Tischler at me recognized and ordered a crowd to chase me down the street, ”Mr. Kornbluh tweeted.
Mr Tischler was taken into custody at his home in Borough Park and charged with unlawful imprisonment and incitement to riot, The Post reported.
I was brutally assaulted, punched in the head and kicked by an angry mob of hundreds of members of the Boro Park protest community – shouting at me “Nazi” and “Hitler” – after Heshy Tischler recognized me and ordered the crowd to chase me down the street
– Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) October 8, 2020
Mr Tischler’s lawyer Sara Shulevitz told the outlet on Sunday that he believed the arrest was politically motivated.
“He is not guilty and this is a politically motivated arrest and the truth will be revealed,” Ms. Shulevitz said, before Mr. Tischler was arraigned.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo have placed restrictions in areas of Brooklyn and Queens following rising coronavirus cases, in which nine neighborhoods have a rate of positive test of more than 3% over a period of seven days.
Schools and businesses have been closed, while “places of worship can remain open at 25% of capacity, up to a maximum of 10 people, whichever is less” for those in red zones.
Local Hasidic leaders have spoken out against the rules and accused Governor Cuomo of distinguishing the Jewish people.
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