Jewish banker seen punching person at 'Pride' event mobbed by antisemitic 'Queers for Palestine' group: source
Brooklyn cellphone video appears to show a man punching a woman in the face on a sidewalk on the outskirts of a "Pride" event, sending her tumbling onto the pavement before he cuts off down a side street, exchanging swear words with onlookers – but there's more to the story than a 10-second viral clip of the chaos shows, according to a source.
The graphic video, posted to X by user @hellosami, shows a man in a light-colored sportscoat slug another person in the face, sending them tumbling down to the pavement. But the video does not include anything leading up to the blow and raises questions about what happened and why.
It happened during an anti-Israel march in Park Slope around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
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It shows a man, identified as an investment banker named Jonathan Kaye, carrying a plastic bag in one hand and punching a person so hard they tumble down to the pavement with the other. The swing prompted shocked gasps from onlookers.
However, the source told Fox News Digital, it was the group of demonstrators who initiated the physical altercation after Kaye, who is Jewish, commented that they were "on the wrong side."
Four people from a group the source described as either "Queers for Palestine" or "Trans for Palestine" allegedly surrounded Kaye after he spoke out.
They started throwing a "red liquid" on him as he attempted to back away from them, according to the source. Photos of his clothes show the stains and a bloody leg injury.
Kaye wound up on the ground, bleeding from his leg, according to the source. It was unclear whether he was shoved or tripped.
"Here's a guy with a prestigious job, zero history of violence, zero criminal history in his life," the source said. "In his mind, he was doing what his body told him was necessary to get the hell out of there."
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He got up and shoved one of the activists, who appears on the ground on the right-hand side of the video, which starts a second before he throws a punch at a second activist and leaves the scene.
The video shows Kaye wearing a tan jacket over a white collared shirt, with a large wet stain across his back.
Bystanders curse him out.
"She f---ing threw s--- all over me," he tells them.
Then he turns and leaves.
The NYPD said it was aware of the incident but that no one had come forward as a victim.
"We encourage anyone who has been a victim to file a police report," a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "There are currently no complaint reports on file."
A caption on the viral video claims the person who fell to the ground suffered a broken nose and the other person wound up with "busted" arm.
"This guy punched me in the face today and broke my nose and busted up my friend's arm," the video's caption reads. "Can anyone find him?"
The video racked up nearly 13 million views Monday.
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An X user quickly identified Kaye as a managing director at the investment bank Moelis & Co., but others questioned why the video was so short and asked what led up to the incident.
"We are aware that one of our employees was involved in a serious incident in Brooklyn on June 8," a Moelis spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "We take this matter very seriously, and this employee is on leave as we continue to conduct our investigation."
The company later announced the employee had been placed on leave, according to Reuters.
Kaye "felt strongly" that he needed to exercise his right to free speech and tell the protesters they were on the wrong side, according to the source.
"He didn’t instigate a physical altercation, but he had the first exchange of words," the source said. "From there, it was almost as if they were jumping at the opportunity to engage with a Jewish person and take out their frustrations or aggression."
City police revealed last week that rising hate crimes in the Big Apple were being fueled by a surge in antisemitic attacks.
There were 276 hate crime complaints in the city through May 31, the most recent data available. That's up from 210 in 2023. Virtually the entire increase can be seen in anti-Jewish incidents, which rose from 97 to 164 in the same period.
The rise in antisemitic incidents coincided with anti-Israel demonstrations on the city's major college campuses, including Columbia and New York universities.