BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) — A woman marched up to a demonstrator and yelled anti-Palestinian comments before slapping him on the face during a protest on the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday, police said.
The man, 31, was marching in a pro-Palestinian rally around 6:30 p.m. when the suspect attacked him and hurled anti-ethnic remarks, according to the NYPD. The victim was not injured. It was unclear what the suspect said.
The woman fled after the incident. There have been no arrests. The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, flooding the streets of New York as the Israel-Hamas war intensified.
The rally started at the Brooklyn Museum and passed the Barclays Center before the demonstrators crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and ended at Union Square in Lower Manhattan.
“How many more people have to die for us to call this out? I mean 7,000 people have died in what three or four weeks now and Israel is not showing any mercy at all. So it’s likely that if they continue for another three weeks. The death toll is going to multiply by the hundreds, thousands,” demonstrator Umar Jamil said.
The Palestinian death toll has passed 8,000, most of whom are women and children. More than 1,400 Israelis have died since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7. Of the 229 people taken hostage by Hamas, four have been released.
“Kids and families are getting murdered and destroyed by these F16 fighter jets while Palestine doesn’t even have a military, so this got to stop so that’s why we’re out here tonight,” another protester said.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
