Fourth arrest made in anti-Semitic Times Square attack on Lawrence man, NYPD says

A 14-year-old boy is the fourth person to be charged in an attack on a Jewish man from Long Island who was wearing a yarmulke while on his way to a pro-Israel rally in Times Square late last month, the NYPD said on Thursday.

The boy, whose name was not released, was charged with assault, gang assault and menacing, all as hate crimes, and aggravated harassment, an NYPD spokesman said by telephone.

Joseph Borgen, 29, of Lawrence, has said that on May 20 he was punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed and struck with a pair of crutches. His attackers knocked him to the ground while shouting anti-Semitic slurs, cursing Israel, and hailing Hamas, he has said.

Five or six people are believed to have committed the attack, the NYPD has said.

Borgen was treated at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and released.

Clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters erupted around Times Square at about the same time that police said Borgen was assaulted outside 1604 Broadway, by the corner of West 49th Street.

Hamas and Israel earlier that day had agreed to end an 11-day conflict.

One man was arrested and charged the day of Borgen's assault: Waseem Awawdeh, 23, of Brooklyn, was charged with assault, gang assault, menacing and aggravated harassment, all as hate crimes, and criminal possession of a weapon, the NYPD said.

Five days later, Faisal Elezzi, 25, of Staten Island, was charged with assault, menacing and aggravated harassment as hate crimes, according to the NYPD.

And on June 8, Mahmoud Musa, 23, of Staten Island, was arrested and charged with gang assault and assault as hate crimes.