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U.S. NEWS Saturday 28 december 2019
NYC ups policing in Jewish areas after spate of attacks

By JENNIFER PELTZ Dec. 10 shooting rampage
Associated Press at a northern New Jersey
NEW YORK (AP) — New York kosher market. New Jersey
City is increasing its police Attorney General Gurbir
presence in some Brooklyn Grewal said the attack was
neighborhoods with large driven by hatred of Jews
Jewish populations after and law enforcement.
a string of possibly anti- "The persistent and violent
Semitic attacks during the anti-Semitic attacks on
Hanukkah holiday, Mayor Jews in the New York area
Bill de Blasio said after the has reached a crisis level,"
latest episode happened Eric Goldstein, the CEO of
Friday. UJA-Federation of New
Besides making officers York, said Friday. The orga-
more visible in Borough nization is a large Jewish
Park, Crown Heights and charity.
Williamsburg, police will The latest incident hap-
boost visits to houses of pened around 12:40 a.m.
worship and some other Friday, when a woman
places, the mayor tweet- slapped three other wom-
ed. en in the face and head
"I feel pained that in this after encountering them
society, a place that is sup- on a Crown Heights corner, In this Dec. 11, 2019 file photo, Orthodox Jewish men pass New York City police guarding a Brook-
posed to be of respect for police said. The victims, lyn synagogue prior to a funeral for Mosche Deutsch in New York.
everybody, a season when who range in age from 22 Associated Press
we're supposed to be re- to 31, suffered minor pain,
specting everybody, we police said. 3-year-old son. Dov Hikind, who has found- week as possibly motivated
see hate rearing its very Tiffany Harris, 30, was ar- The suspect, Ayana Logan, ed a group dedicated to by anti-Semitism:
ugly head. We will not ac- rested on a hate-crime 42, was freed on supervised combating anti-Semitism. — Officers were told that
cept it," the Democrat said harassment charge. She release after being ar- Steven Jorge, 28, is being two boys, ages 6 and 7,
during a visit later Friday to was awaiting arraign- raigned Friday. held without bail, and a were accosted by a group
Crown Heights, where he ment Friday. It wasn't clear Her lawyer, Lauren judge ordered a psychi- of people while getting off
met with some represen- whether she had a lawyer Katzman, said she believed atric exam for him, court an elevator in a Williams-
tatives of the local Jewish who could comment on authorities were overreach- records show. A message burg apartment building
community. the charges, and no work- ing in casting the case as a was left Friday for Jorge's Monday night, and one of
Around the city, police ing telephone numbers for hate crime. lawyer. the boys was hit, Harrison
have gotten at least six re- Harris could immediately "Ms. Logan is not guilty, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo told said. The attackers fled.
ports this week — and eight be found. I look forward to fighting a state hate crimes task — A 25-year-old man told
since Dec. 13 — of attacks Her arrest came hours af- the case for her in court," force to help police inves- police he was walking on a
possibly propelled by anti- ter a hate crime assault Katzman said. tigate the attack, calling Crown Heights street early
Jewish bias. arrest in Brooklyn's Gra- On Monday, a Miami man it "a horrific and cowardly Tuesday when a group of
"It's something that's very vesend neighborhood. was charged with hate- act of anti-Semitism." people started yelling anti-
alarming, and we treat it There, according to po- crime assault after police "It's even more despicable Semitic slurs at him and one
very seriously," police Chief lice and court documents, said he made an anti-Se- that it occurred over the threw a beverage at him.
of Detectives Rodney Harri- a woman was hit in the mitic remark and attacked holidays," the Democratic The suspects fled.
son said at a news confer- head with a bag by an at- a man in midtown Manhat- governor said in a state- — Later Tuesday in Crown
ence Friday. tacker who jumped in front tan. The 65-year-old victim ment Wednesday. Hanuk- Heights, a 56-year-old man
The attacks have hap- of her, made anti-Semitic was punched and kicked, kah began Sunday. said that a group of people
pened as Jewish commu- comments and vowed suffering cuts, police said. The New York Police De- approached him, and that
nities in the New York City that "your end is coming to He had been wearing a partment's Hate Crime Task one of them punched him,
metro area were already you" Thursday afternoon. yarmulke, according to Force is also investigating while he was walking. No
on edge after a deadly The victim, 34, was with her former state Assemblyman some other episodes this arrests have been made.q

Baltimore breaks city record

for killings per capita in 2019

BALTIMORE (AP) — Balti- The new rate eclipses that denly spiked.
more broke its annual per of 1993, when the city had A statement from Baltimore
capita homicide record a record 353 killings but police said officers were
after reaching 342 killings was much more populous dispatched late Thursday
Friday. before years of population night to a location on Pratt
With just over 600,000 resi- exodus. By contrast, New Street, where they found a
dents, the city hit a histori- York City, with more than man with gunshot wounds.
cally high homicide rate of 8 million residents, had 306 A police spokesman said
about 57 per 100,000 peo- homicides through Dec. 15. the man died from his
ple after recent relentless The total is up from 309 in wounds at a local hospital
gunfire saw eight people 2018 and matches the 342 early Friday. In this Sunday, April 28, 2019 file photo, Police work near the
shot — three fatally — in killings tallied in 2017 and This is the fifth year in a row scene where authorities say several people were shot, at least
one day and nine others — 2015, the year when the that Baltimore has reported one fatally in Baltimore.
one fatally — another day. city's homicide rate sud- more than 300 killings.q Associated Press