Hoax Alert: Assault on Rabbi Perkovsky in Los Angeles (2017)
The following occurrence was reported by YNet in Los Angeles, California in 2017:
‘Rabbi Perkovsky, an elderly Jew who returned from his morning prayers on Monday, was savagely beaten by an unknown attacker in broad daylight on a main street in Los Angeles. According to ABC7, which reported the incident, the police are still investigating, though residents in the area are convinced that the attack was a hate crime, targeting Perkovsky for being Jewish.
Security footage shows Perkovsky dressed in ultra-Orthodox clothing walking down the street, as another person approaches and begins to push him. The second man repeatedly punches and punches him several times even after Perkovsky falls to the ground.
The attacker was captured leaving the place slowly and almost casually, while Petrovsky lay wounded and stunned, writhing in pain, until a passerby comes to help him. On another security camera, the attacker was seen walking away and lifting his finger to the sky.
Police officer Aaron Shapiro told ABC7 that the neighborhood a normally very calm. "It is definitely a shock." The Los Angeles Police Department announced that Perkovsky, who was suffering from a split lip, would be fine. The LAPD added that they had brought on the violent attack was, though it was clearly not a robbery.
Shapiro added that there is currently no evidence at the moment that this the attack was a hate crime, though investigators are still are still working on the case. Since yesterday, police cars have been roaming around the neighborhood looking for the assailant.
However, the victim's acquaintances describe him as a good grandfather beloved by his community, and attribute the attack to a hate crime because of his faith. "He never hit a fly," said his neighbor, adding that he was beating for no reason "apart from being a Jew."’ (1)
Pamela Geller – a jewess known for both her addiction to plastic surgery and her fanatical adherence to the idea of Israel First – also picked up the story and echoed YNet’s claims of an ‘anti-Semitic’ motive. (2)
Having watched the surveillance camera video of the assault which documents what occurred; I will make two observations about this so-called ‘anti-Semitic assault’.
Firstly YNet claims that Rabbi Eli Perkovsky was ‘targeted’ because he was jewish. The video evidence suggests otherwise, because the attacker can be clearly seen walking back and forth in an agitated manner outside the gate of property on which the surveillance camera was mounted. He then attacks Rabbi Perkovsky when the walks up to him.
Indeed Rabbi Perkovsky clearly walks right up to the man rather walking to one side as would be normal, which suggests that the Rabbi’s confrontational conduct may have triggered the assault from the agitated man not any kind of ‘anti-jewish prejudice’.
Even if we ignore Rabbi Perkovsky’s confrontational behaviour; it is clear that the man who assaulted him was agitated and possibly mentally disturbed. So acknowledging this fact; is it really likely that he was animated by ‘anti-jewish prejudice’ as YNet and Geller are claiming?
No: it isn’t.
Secondly YNet claims that the agitated man ‘raises his finger to the sky’ when he has finished assaulting Rabbi Perkovsky, which the obvious implication that the man is both a Muslim and a supporter of Islamic State.
This is incorrect.
The footage shows the man raise his forearm up slightly as he begins to walk away, but we cannot see his hand or what he is doing when he does so as his torso is blocking the view. Thus we cannot say that he raised his finger and nor can we speculate that he did, because there is nothing to indicate as such.
Thus, the idea that Rabbi Perkovsky was ‘assaulted because he was a jew’ is a hoax and the attack was almost certainly unrelated to the victim’s jewishness.
References
(1) http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4966511,00.html
(2) http://pamelageller.com/2017/05/horror-video-elderly-jewish-man-brutally-beaten-unprovoked-attack-near-l-synagogue.html/