Video has emerged showing the moment an apparent arsonist set a Japanese-Jewish restaurant on fire in New York.
Footage from the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn shows the suspect approaching the Shalom Japan restaurant and igniting what police say were window tarps decorated with the Star of David.
“The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating this as an anti-Jewish incident,” police said.
Video surveillance captured the suspect in an arson case in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, where an unidentified individual set fire outside Jewish-Japanese restaurant Shalom Japan. (Fox News)
The suspect is seen wandering back and forth on the sidewalk, observing the growing flames.
Eventually, the arsonist flees the scene in the direction of Rodney Street and South 5th Street.
Information encoded on the security footage indicates the incident took place on Nov. 18 around 4:00 a.m.
RITZY NEW YORK TOWN ROCKED BY ANTISEMITIC GRAFFITI SCRAWLED ACROSS BUSINESSES
The unidentified suspect set fire to outdoor tarps decorated with the Star of David before fleeing the scene. (Fox News)
The suspect, who wore a trucker hat and glasses, is described as having a dark complexion and thin physical frame.
No injuries were reported from the incident, and the building did not suffer significant structural damage.
Protests in support of both Israel and Palestinians in Gaza have since broken out in cities across the world, including New York.
Video footage shows the suspect was wearing glasses, a trucker cap and sneakers at the time of the arson incident. (Fox News)
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Antisemitic graffiti has popped up in other areas of the state since the war began, including a swastika that was scrawled on a Jewish deli on the Upper East Side last month and anti-Israel messages on a sidewalk outside a prominent Brooklyn synagogue, the New York Post reported.
In New York City, the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force investigated 69 anti-Jewish incidents in October, a 214% surge compared to the same period last year.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
