Hero Who Stopped Attack On Jewish Man Doubts It Was Hate Crime

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN – A good Samaritan who stepped in to stop a tree branch-wielding attacker from beating a Jewish man said the assault wasn't a hate crime – and instead called it the act of a disturbed man triggered by "an evil look."

Errol Webley, 34, rushed to help when he saw Shervy Taylor, 18, beating a 26-year-old man with a tree branch on the corner of Albany Avenue and Empire Boulevard at about 4 p.m., according to Webly and the NYPD.

Webley lunged at the attacker, pinned him down and, as they waited for police to arrive, asked the 18-year-old why he had done it.

"I personally asked him, 'Why'd you hit him?'" Webley said. The visibly shaking teen told Webley he was afraid the man was about to attack, so he lunged first.

"I can see why he felt a little intimidated," said Webley. "It ain't anti-semitism."

Police and locals disagree. Taylor has been charged with assault as a hate crime, menacing as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon, an NYPD spokesman said, and the attack caused a slew of elected officials to gather on the corner to speak out against anti-Semitism and to honor Webley.

Public Advocate Letitia James, City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo and state Senator Jesse Hamilton thanked Webley for stopping the attack and dubbed him a hero, but when they invited him to speak, he shook his head.

"I can understand why he felt like that," Webley later told Patch. "They're making it seem like a hate crime and it's really not. "

Monday's assault was the second anti-Jewish attack in Brooklyn in the past week one of 12 to occur in New York State this year so far, which means the 2017 record of 11 anti-semitic attacks has already been broken, according to Evan Bernstein of the Anti-Defamation League.

"We've had a rough weekend here in New York," Bernstein said, adding that nine of the assaults occurred in Brooklyn. "That's a problem."

"We saw members of the Jewish community attacked simply because they were Jewish," said James. "These disgusting acts of violence and hate have no place in our city."

Photo by Kathleen Culliton