Maskless Heckler Shuts Down Update On Coronavirus Spikes: Report

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn press conference about recent coronavirus upticks was shut down Friday after an unmasked former City Council candidate began heckling the city's top health officials, according to reports.

Heshy Tischler, an activist who ran for City Council in 2017, began screaming at the head of the city's public hospital system, Dr. Mitchell Katz, as the press conference got underway in Gravesend, one of the Queens and Brooklyn neighborhoods facing a spike in COVID-19.

“He’s lying! When a man lies, he has to be interrupted! You are a liar,” Tischler yelled, according to video and the New York Post. “Your reports are lies. You are lying and I won’t allow lies to be given out.”

Katz repeatedly yelled at Tischler to put on a mask and keep his distance, but officials eventually shut down the press conference after 19 minutes.

Tischler later screamed at Katz to “get the hell out of my community, you filthy animal” and described health officials as “violent Nazi stormtroopers.”

The tirade came just days after Katz revealed the this father-in-law had died from coronavirus in Israel at another press conference about the upticks, which have centered on Ocean Parkway, Edgemere and Far Rockaway, Williamsburg and Kew Gardens.

Health officials have said that they are especially concerned about spikes in the city's Orthodox Jewish communities, many of which are found in the neighborhoods facing upticks.

They most recently warned that ZIP codes with the upticks could go back into lockdown should their numbers not improve by next week.

The shutdown would include closing all non-essential businesses, prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people, issuing fines to those not wearing masks and closing private schools and childcare centers found flouting Department of Education rules.