An Orthodox Jewish reporter said he was attacked by an angry mob at a protest against coronavirus restrictions in Borough Park, Brooklyn on Wednesday.
The reporter, Jacob Kornbluh, said protesters yelled that he was a “Nazi” and “Hitler” as they chased after him during a second night of unrest over government attempts to stop the surging cases of COVID-19 across Brooklyn.
Kornbluh blamed the attack on Heshy Tischler, an agitator and aspiring politician who has organized the largely Orthodox protests over the last two nights.
“I was just brutally assaulted, hit in the head, and kicked at by an angry crowd of hundreds of community members of the Boro Park protest — while yelling at me “Nazi” and “Hitler” —after Heshy Tischler recognized me and ordered the crowd to chase me down the street,” Kornbluh tweeted.
Tischler, who is running for City Council, was filmed pinning Kornbluh against a wall as he shouted, “You are a moser!” meaning snitch.
Kornbluh said he was saved by police and several community members.
The night before, Tichler was filmed referring to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife Chirlane McCray as “retard woman.”
On the same night, a group of protesters in the area chased down and assaulted freelance photographer Bruce Schaff, who is Jewish, as he tried to capture the scene. A second man, Berish Getz, 34, a Borough Park resident, was also beaten during that protest.
“Out of all the protests I’ve been to I’ve never seen this level of violence from protesters toward members of the press, photographers, or anyone for that matter,” Schaff told The Post after the Tuesday night attack.
The anger stems from Governor Andrew Cuomo-mandated restrictions imposed on area synagogues, schools, and non-essential businesses due to a coronavirus spike sweeping through a large chunk of Brooklyn and patches of Queens around Forest Hills and Far Rockaway.
