One month ago on a Thursday evening, a Crown Heights woman left her house, curious to observe the remnants of a protest outside the nearby Chabad-Lubovitch global headquarters that was hosting ultranationalist Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
But when a group of young, pro-Israel men and boys spotted her and mistook her for a pro-Palestine protester, her curiosity turned into a 10-minute nightmare—much of which was recorded and shared on the internet. The woman—whose name Hell Gate is not publishing to protect her safety—was followed for blocks by a mob of more than 100 men who repeatedly kicked her in the back, pushed her, threw objects at her and threatened her with rape, video shows. The ordeal only ended when the woman spotted a police car, which she ran to.