Police have released new, close-up surveillance footage of the mysterious, antisemitic suspect who terrorized a Brooklyn neighborhood last week by spray-painting swastikas near Jewish landmarks.
The bigoted vandal, law enforcement sources said, seemed to take extraordinary efforts to conceal their identity — wearing all-black clothing, including matching gloves and a long-brimmed fedora that made seeing any distinguishing facial features nearly impossible.
Cops confirmed on Monday that the Nov. 5 incident has been classified as a hate crime, with the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force now leading the active investigation into the vandalism and the search for the perpetrator responsible.
The first incident occurred around 6 a.m. on Nov. 5 outside of the Magen David Yeshivah located at 2132 McDonald Ave. in Gravesend.
Police said the mysterious suspect, while riding a bicycle, approached the religious hub and used red spray to mark the facade with a swastika before fleeing northbound on McDonald Avenue in an unknown direction.
The same individual struck again mere hours later, this time at around 9:50 a.m. on Nov. 5 outside of Washington Cemetery, a Jewish burial ground along McDonald Avenue and Bay Parkway. Cops say the masked vandal left the sign of hate on construction barriers before fleeing the scene on a bicycle.
The attacks occurred hours after Zohran Mamdani won the election as New York City’s next mayor. In a statement on social media, he quickly condemned the act of hate.
“Disgusting and heartbreaking act of antisemitism … with no place in our beautiful city,” Mamdani wrote. “As Mayor, I will always stand steadfast with our Jewish neighbors to root the scourge of antisemitism out of our city.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul also spoke out against the antisemitic vandalism.
“Our community was assaulted by an individual so depraved of heart, so cruel and insensitive that they would dare to violate sacred spaces, a cemetery, a center, and a school where children from preschool to 12th grade were gathering just in a few hours,” Hochul wrote on social media in response to the attacks.
Police said the suspect wore a black face mask, a black fedora, black pants, a black shirt, black gloves, and black shoes.
No arrests have been made, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding the suspect’s whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
