A man shouted he was Muslim and wanted to kill Jews before punching an employee of a Jewish bookstore on the Upper West Side Tuesday, police said.
The suspect first walked into the West Side Judaica & Bookstore on Broadway and started shouting anti-Semitic statements at about 1:15 p.m., police said. An employee then told the suspect to leave but the man planted himself on the street in front of the store, near West 89th Street, and continued shouting.
“[Expletive] you Jews, I’ll kill you all,” the man said. “I’m Muslim.”
The employee then came out to tell him to go away, but the man punched him in the right eye and rode off on a scooter.
The incident was being investigated as a possible hate crime, police said.
The victim refused medical attention.
“We are deeply disturbed by this horrific assault and shocked that it occurred in broad daylight in a neighborhood where Jews largely do not fear being singled out for violence,” said the Anti-Defamation League’s New York regional director Evan R. Bernstein.
