Borough Park Haredi activist Heshy Tischler was taken into custody by the NYPD Sunday night. He is looking at charges of inciting a riot and unlawful imprisonment over with the assault on Haredi journalist Jacob Kornbluh.
. is getting arrested right now. pic.twitter.com/sAu1DI70K0
— Yaakov Pollak (@Yanky_Pollak)
The incident in question took place Wednesday night in Borough Park, Brooklyn, when Tischler was leading a rally of some 500 Chasidim who protested NY State’s new coronavirus restrictions that focused on Borough Park and several other “red” population clusters in the city.
Kornbluh, who reports for the Jewish Insider, accused Tischler of urging the protesters to attack him, calling Kornbluh a moyser (snitch).
An earlier version of this story ran under a headline suggesting Kornbluh had been “battered.” But his interview with CNN revealed that he was not hurt physically, although had he not been rescued by police he probably would have ended like video photographer Berish Getz (Haredi Reporters Kornbluh, Getz, Assaulted, Called ‘Moysers’ by Chasidim in Protest Led by Heshy Tischler).
Um…..the “journalist” himself admitted that he wasn’t assaulted. pic.twitter.com/E60qq6FtpG
— The American Truth (@17AmericanTruth)
After Tischler’s arrest, dozens of Chasidic protesters stood outside Kornbluh’s home, chanting, “No Heshy, no peace,” the NY Post reported.
Protesting against Muser Kornbluh. pic.twitter.com/niwIwrxUpP
— Heshy Tischler #FreeHeshy (@HeshyTischler)
A twitter account affiliated with Tischler posted a video of the Sunday night rally with the heading: “Protesting against Muser Kornbluh.”
The proper spelling for the Hebrew term for snitch is either Moyser or Moser. “Muser” is closer to “musar” which means morality – not applicable in this story.
Tischler said he plans to plead not guilty to the charges.
Last Friday, Tischler said he would be turning himself into police custody on Monday morning. But Sunday night, when he was picked up by the cops, Tischler said he was tricked. “I called, I even spoke to the chief. They tricked me. They’re telling everybody that I was supposed to be arrested tomorrow,” Tischler said.
Meanwhile, according to the NY Times, the authorities have cracked down over the weekend on some of the city’s coronavirus hot spots, issuing more than 60 summonses and tens of thousands of dollars in fines to people, businesses and houses of worship that did not follow newly imposed restrictions on gatherings or mask-wearing and social-distancing requirements. These included at least five houses of worship in the “red zones,” where coronavirus infection rates are the highest. Each of those locations was given a summons that could result in up to $15,000 in fines, according to Sheriff Joseph Fucito.