Anti-semitic assault of senior man ends with attacker shouting 'Kanye 2024'

An attack on a senior citizen in Central Park appeared to be motivated by antisemitism as the attacker screamed "Kanye 2024," a reference to the rapper now known as "Ye," who has come out as a Nazi.

The Washington Post reported that the older man was walking through the park at about 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday when someone hit him from behind. The older man fell to the ground, chipped a tooth and broke his hand, law enforcement said in a statement. The attacker used "numerous" antisemitic phrases while attacking him before fleeing on a bike with a sign reading "Hungry Disabled."

While West hasn't announced he's running for president, he has been building a campaign team.

Over the course of the past year, neo-Nazis have become emboldened by high-profile, radical, right-wing extremists promoting Nazi ideology. Former President Donald Trump had a meeting with one of them last month. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported that anti-Jewish attacks have risen to an all-time high with 2,717 incidents in 2021, a 34 percent increase since 2020.

New York has had an increase in antisemitic attacks to the tune of 125 percent compared with Nov. 2021.

"Federal officials recently suggested that this surge of antisemitism is not going away, in part, because of a rise in hate speech and disinformation about Jews on Twitter that is uniting and popularizing some extremists who have helped push people to engage in violent protests," said the Post.

Police are asking anyone who has information on the attacker to contact them.

\u201cA 63-year-old victim suffered lacerations and a chipped tooth after being assaulted by this perpetrator inside Central Park. \nNumerous anti-Jewish statements were made prior to the assault. \nThe perpetrator has been tracked as far south as Washington Square Park, post incident\u201d

— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPD Hate Crimes) 1671135448

Read the full report at the Washington Post.