HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – Police are investigating after, they said a man hurled antisemitic remarks to a rabbi outside a Hallandale Beach synagogue and later emptied a bag of human feces, the latest in a string of incidents that have raised concerns in South Florida’s Jewish community.
Cellphone video captured the man on an electric bicycle as he went on a rant outside the Chabad of South Broward, along East Hallandale Beach Boulevard, at around 12:30 p.m., Friday.
“The Jewish bastard pulled a pistol on me,” he said at one point during the tirade.
He took off shortly after.
Police said the subject returned some time later and spit at the menorah located near the sidewalk in front of the building.
Hallandale Beach Police Capt. RaShana Dabney-Donovan said the man did not stop there.
“Apparently, a young lady who was picking up her daughter from the Chabad witnessed this Black male dump what appeared to be a large bag or a pillowcase or some white cloth that contained human feces,” she said.
The woman who witnessed the incident, who asked not to be identified or show her face on camera, said she was picking up her daughter from school at around 3:30 p.m.
“All of a sudden, I see this man standing there, no shoes. He was wearing a white tunic,” she said.
When she started to approach him, the woman said, he put down the bag and walked away.
“I approached to see what was in the fabric, and it was feces,” she said.
The woman said she tried to follow the man.
“When he noticed I was following him, he started yelling, ‘[Expletive] Jews, you should not be doing this,’” she said.
According to the police report, once the man was done emptying the bag of feces, witnesses said he shouted, “Jews should die!”
Hallandale Beach Commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub said it’s no accident these incidents happened days after an 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas that has since led to a cease-fire.
“It seems that every time there is an uprising, or a situation globally or nationally, easily identifiable members of our religious community, specifically the Orthodox Jewish community, are a target,” she said.
Back on May 14, police said, a Hallandale Beach man reported having rocks thrown at him as he walked back from the Chabad.
“It’s very important for us to combat these types of incidents,” said Dabney-Donovan.
Down in Miami-Dade County, antisemitic incidents, including defacing of property, have been reported in just the last few weeks.
That’s why Lima-Taub said she has proposed a hate crime task force.
“Specifically to deal with hate crimes against our marginalized groups,” she said.
As for what happened on Friday, the witness who spoke with 7News said she won’t let it intimidate her.
“We are always going to be here. We’re never going to leave, and we are always going to be courageous for the people who have died in our families before it,” she said.