Wild clashes between NYPD, agitators outside synagogue tunnels caught on camera, go viral
Police respond to chaotic scene at HQ of Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pandemonium overtook a historical New York City synagogue when agitators battled with police over a bizarre, illegally dug tunnel under the place of worship.
Viral videos show responding officers pulling young men from the tunnel as dozens of other agitators shout, clap and, at one point, appear to bull rush through police and climb over destroyed wooden furniture.
But the police stood their ground and kept the large crowd at bay as officers pulled rabble-rousers from the tunnels and took them into custody as they appeared to laugh and sing along.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In one video, posted on X by @FrumTikTok that has since been deleted, Monday evening's wild night started when several men blasted wooden panels with sledgehammers and ripped the coverings that hid the underground pathway as construction crews prepped to fill it in.
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Jewish students riot against NYPD officers, who were called to inspect a secret tunnel dug under the synagogue by students. (Bruce Schaff/AP)
One officer is heard telling members of the antagonistic group that they need to clear the synagogue out tonight.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They want to fix this tonight," the officer said in a video originally posted by @FrumTikTok.
The account user has since deleted the videos and lengthy thread after it was raided by antisemitic conspiracies and remarks.
"I will NOT allow my account to be used by antisemitic Jew haters to promote their pathetic hatred of religious Jews," the user posted on X.
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The chaos started with a 3:30 p.m. call about a "disorderly group outside of 770 Eastern Parkway" in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, an NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
"Officers were informed that a group of individuals unlawfully entered 770 Eastern Parkway by damaging a wall," the NYPD said in an emailed statement Tuesday morning.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"At this time, it is known that a number of individuals were taken into custody. Charges are pending. No injuries were reported as a result of this incident."
NYPD officers arrest a student after he was removed from a breach in the wall of the synagogue that led to a tunnel dug by students. (Bruce Schaff/AP)
Hasidic Jewish students watch as law enforcement establishes a perimeter around a breached wall in the synagogue that led to a tunnel dug by students. (Bruce Schaff/AP)
What are the tunnels for and where do they lead?
CrownHeights.info first reported the shocking discovery under the headquarters of Lubavitch in New York City in late December.
Workers reportedly stumbled upon the underground pathway while they were working on the plumbing near the site, according to CrownHeights.info.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It reportedly was designed to reach an abandoned women's mikvah – or ritual bath – around the corner and exit the building, the Jewish outlet Forward reported.
The small crew who dug the tunnel had been working on it for months to a year, according to the news outlet, but what purpose it serves or what motivated anyone to dig the tunnel remains a unknown.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The inside of the dirt-walled tunnel was posted in a video by CrownHeights.info on its Instagram account in December.
Jewish students sit behind a breach in the wall of a synagogue that led to a tunnel dug by the students in New York City. (Bruce Schaff/AP)
After the inadvertent discovery, structural engineers assessed the damage, and the synagogue's leadership prepared to fill in the tunnel.
As the cement mixers rolled into the area, the riot began and chaos ensued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rabbi Motti Seligson, spokesperson for Chabad.org, said efforts to repair the walls "were disrupted by the extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalizing the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorized access."
"They have since been arrested and the building closed pending a structural safety review," he said in a statement on X. "Lubavitch officials have attempted to gain proper control of the premises through the New York State court system; unfortunately, despite consistently prevailing in court, the process has dragged on for years."
"This is, obviously, deeply distressing to the Lubavitch movement, and the Jewish community worldwide. We hope and pray to be able to expeditiously restore the sanctity and decorum of this holy place."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rabbis condemn actions of ‘agitators'
Rabbi Yosef Braun, Rov of the Crown Heights Beis Din, said in a recorded statement that a group of people "who were not appointed by anyone have taken reign and control of the holy Shul (synagogue) of 770 (East Parkway), and decided to do as they wish."
"Things came to a head today where people saw in the open where they’re ready to destroy and deface the Holy Walls … whose hand did not shake and tremble when they went and touched those walls, when they took a hammer to those walls?"
This view shows the World Headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York City. (Google Street View)
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky said they're "pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators." (Chabad Lubavitch HQ/X)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky said they're "pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators" in a statement on behalf of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters.
"These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored," Krinsky said. "Our thanks to the NYPD for their professionalism and sensitivity."