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Cops Pulling Fingerprints From Beer Bottles At Midwood Hate Crime Scene
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 13, 2011
Modified Nov 13, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 13, 2011
Modified Nov 13, 2011
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Friday morning in Midwood, on the anniversary of the end of Kristallnacht, vandals torched three cars, tried to burn a fourth, and scrawled anti-semitic graffiti on a nearby van and benches. Police are investigating the incident, which took place in the heavily Orthodox Jewish section of Ocean Parkway, as a hate crime. And they are hopeful that beer bottles left at the scene by the perps will yield some results: “We've recovered from the scene 27 empty Corona bottles, so those will be tested for fingerprints as well as DNA,” Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said.
Hynes also confirmed that police don't think it's just bad luck that the attack occurred a day after the anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Nazis attacked synagogues and other Jewish establishments in 1939. “Whoever it is is reasonably intelligent because I don’t think it’s a coincidence at all that they chose to do this horrific thing that near the anniversary of Kristallnacht,” Hynes said.
The graffiti written near the cars included swastikas and lines like "f the Jews." A van nearby had "KKK" written on it. Police recovered at least four gas containers—as well as a dozen beer bottles—from the block of Ocean Parkway, between Avenues I and J. One detective described the scene: “There were Coronas everywhere. Looks like they had a party.”
Community members and politicians, including State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, state Sen. Eric Adams and civil rights attorney Normal Siegel, will be marching today in a “Walk for Tolerance” as the investigation continues: “We’re not going to stand for it. We’re not going to let them stop us from walking, from living, from being Jewish,” one resident told CBS. “We’re not going to let them stop us from doing that. We’re upset.”
Tagged
anti semitism
brooklyn
cops
coronas
fingerprints
hate crime
jews
midwood
nypd
ocean parkway
police
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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