A woman in New York City attacked a man and his son at a Brooklyn playground in what appeared to be a hate-motivated confrontation. Video of the unidentified woman shows her throwing coffee at the man while he and his 18-month-old toddler played, demanding that he leave. The father, Ashish Prashar, 40, began recording the woman as she aggressively approached him.
There has been an uptick in hate crimes since the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas. Prashar reportedly wanted nothing to do with the woman, and when he refused to answer her questions, she allegedly got angry and threw the coffee. Today, police are trying to find who she is.
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Prashar's son was reportedly playing with the woman's child.
Prashar and the other child were reportedly playing at the basketball court when the woman approached Prashar and asked him if he supported Hamas, according to the Daily Mail. He believes she was triggered by his keffiyeh, a headscarf often worn in the Middle East. The father told the news outlet that he refused to answer her question and began filming her.
The video shows the woman approaching Prashar.
The father told the Daily Mail the woman told him and his son to get away from her family. The video shows her walking toward Prashar and throwing a cup of coffee in his direction.
"When someone asks you a proactive question, they are not looking for a real answer. I wanted to de-escalate," he told the news outlet. "I feel sad my son has experienced, has been a target of a hate crime at 18 months," he said. "He knew something was wrong – he knew something was off. I held him there and told him that he was loved."
The woman yelled at Prashar to 'get away.'
In the video, she yells, "Get away, get away, get away from me." Prashar alleges she also called him a terrorist but that is not in the recording. The frightened father shared the video on Instagram, hoping to expose the woman.
She allegedly said some extremely inflammatory things to Prashar.
As he wrote on the Instagram post, "She went on to say that 'your people burn babies and I hope your baby burns in an oven'. She threw her phone and hot coffee at my baby and me and I didn't put down my son behind me my legs he would've either been hit with the phone or burnt. This was a hate crime. We're obviously very shaken up by what has happened but we're ok."
The shocking video quickly went viral.
His Instagram post has been shared nearly 25,000 times and has appeared on multiple media outlets. People were shocked at her behavior and applauded Prashar's demeanor.
"You're a man holding a baby and you showed amazing restraint. Throwing coffee at someone and their baby?? I'm so sorry this happened to you, and also, I'm sorry that I wasn't there bc she would've been laid out," someone commented on Instagram.
Another follower wrote, "Ash, this is incredibly sad. This woman needs to be found and brought to some sort of justice. Just wild. I am so sorry."
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Police are still looking for the woman.
Police need help identifying the alleged attacker, per People. The New York Police Department released a statement that reads in part, "On Monday, November 7, 2023, at approximately 12:30, the 40-year-old-male victim was in Edmonds Playground, in the vicinity of 196 DeKalb Avenue, when he was approached by an unknown female who allegedly made anti-Islamic statements. The unknown female proceeded to throw her cellphone along with a hot cup of coffee at him. The victim was not injured during this incident."
The Daily Mail reported that an award of $3,500 awaits anyone with information leading to the suspect. NYPD asks tipsters to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). Police also accept tips through the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ and on Twitter @NYPDTips.
