HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man on an electric bicycle returned to a Hallandale Beach synagogue and school days after, police and witnesses said, he spewed antisemitic messages and left a bag filled with feces outside of the house of worship.
Surveillance cameras captured the man as he dropped a cooler outside of Chabad of South Broward along East Hallandale Beach Boulevard, Sunday.
Inside the cooler was what appeared to be human waste.
Hallandale Beach Police quickly showed up to the Chabad to try to catch the man, but he had already taken off.
7News cameras captured the man as he pedaled away.
“We investigate all crime, and we do not take any crime lightly, especially hate crimes,” said Hallandale Beach Police Capt. RaShana Dabney-Donovan.
Friday afternoon, cellphone video captured the same man as he shouted antisemitic slurs to a rabbi outside of the synagogue.
He is also accused of spitting at the menorah in front of the building.
Just hours later, witnesses said, he dropped the first bag of feces.
“Apparently, a young lady who was picking up her daughter from the Chabad witnessed this Black male dump what appeared to be a large bag or a pillowcase or some white cloth that contained human feces,” said Dabney-Donovan.
The woman who witnessed the incident said she came to the Chabad to pick up her daughter from school when she spotted the man.
“After he left the bag, I followed him at least to the corner,” she said.
The witness said the man began shouting even more hateful language.
“When he noticed that I was following him, he started yelling, ‘[Expletive] Jews. You should not be doing this,'” she said.
On Monday morning, security and police were seen outside of the Chabad of South Broward.
The incidents come as police continue to investigate a possible hate crime in Hallandale Beach.
A man who asked 7News not to share his name for safety concerns said he believes he was targeted by teenagers for his Jewish beliefs.
He said he was walking home from service at the Chabad on May 14 when he felt a pain near his calf.
“All of a sudden, I feel a rock at my leg,” he said.
The man said the teens crossed the street to his side, and one of them threw a rock.
“I didn’t look at them. I didn’t say anything to them,” he said.
The victim said the teens took off.
“Thank God I wasn’t with my kids, and it didn’t hit me elsewhere,” he said.
A concerned community spoke out against the string of incidents at a large pro-Israel rally held Sunday in Hallandale Beach.
“This racism should not exist here. It should not exist anywhere,” said Joe Zevuloni, one of the rally’s organizers.
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper asked for unity.
“We need to live as brothers and sisters and as Americans, and as a Jewish American, I want to stop the hate,” she said.
Despite what has happened, members of the Chabad said they refuse to live in fear.
“We’re always going to be here. We’re never going to leave, and we are always going to be courageous for the people who have died in our families before it,” said the woman who spoke with 7News about Friday’s incident.
Police continue their search for the man on the electric bicycle. They said they want to identify and question him.
Leaders at the Chabad of South Broward said they’re going to be ramping up security in an effort to keep everyone safe.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement regarding the string of incidents. It reads, “Enough is enough. We call on elected officials, law enforcement, community leaders and social media companies to take immediate action and publicly stand against this abhorrent surge of antisemitism.”
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