A man accused of punching a Jewish woman on the New York City subway was arrested Tuesday.
Christopher D’Aguiar was arrested and charged with hate crime assault, aggravated harassment, assault, and harassment, according to the New York Post. He allegedly punched the victim in the face on Oct. 14 and told her he did it because "you are Jewish."
The arrest comes amid a rise in hate crimes targeting Jewish people in the city, the New York Post reported:
The hate-fueled attack was launched amid a major spike in hate crimes, some violent, across the Big Apple — with nearly 60% of the incidents targeting the Jewish community — as the Israel-Hamas war rages on following the terrorist group’s surprise attack on the Jewish nation.
At least 51 hate crimes have been reported in the city since Oct. 9 — 30 of which were against Jewish victims, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
The NYPD only reported six anti-Jewish incidents during the same period in 2022, he said.
Across the country, anti-Semitic attacks are up nearly 400 percent since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League.