Two Women Arrested for Assaulting Jewish New Yorker in Hostage Poster Spat
Two women have been handed hate crime charges after they allegedly assaulted a Jewish woman in New York City who criticized them for tearing down posters displaying Israeli hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack. The New York Post reported that Mehwish Omer, 26, turned herself in to police on Monday, while Stephanie Gonzalez, 25, was arrested a week earlier. The pair were accused of violently attacking the Jewish victim on Nov. 9, knocking her phone out of her hand and tearing off her Star of David necklace. The cops said the suspects fled after the attack and the victim sustained minor injuries to her face and neck. The New York Police Department also stated that neither Omer nor Gonzalez had been arrested previously. The day after the incident, Mayor Eric Adams called it a “deeply misguided act of disrespect to victims of terrorism.” He later added, “We must reiterate that hate has absolutely no place here.”
