Police arrested a woman on Monday for attacking a Jewish onlooker for recording her ripping down Israeli missing person posters on the Upper West Side earlier this month.
According to police sources, 26-year-old Mehwish Omer has joined her alleged accomplice, 25-year-old Stephanie Gonzalez, behind bars after turning herself in to Lower Manhattan’s 7th Precinct on Nov. 27. Both women were sought by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force for assaulting the 41-year-old woman on Nov. 9.
Law enforcement sources say that Omer and Gonzalez were ripping down posters depicting missing people from Israel in wake of the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict on Riverside Drive and West 82nd Street when the victim approached them and began recording them on her cellphone. The trio apparently got into a heated argument that then turned violent.
The suspects allegedly attacked the Jewish woman, ripping a Star of David necklace from around her neck and smashing her cellphone on the ground before fleeing the scene.
Police report that the victim suffered facial and neck injuries but refused medical treatment.
Omer refused to answer for her alleged hate crime when questioned by amNewYork Metro as she was led out of the 7th Precinct in cuffs on Monday. She is charged with hate crime assault and hate crime criminal mischief, while Gonzalez is charged with attempted robbery and hate crime assault.
The conflict in Israel and Gaza has prompted a surge in biased crimes since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by terrorist group Hamas. As of Nov. 13, police say that out of the 132 hate crimes reported since the attack, 91 of those are believed to be motivated by antisemitism.
