NEW YORK, Nov. 22 (UPI) —
New York police said an attack on a Jewish man based on the so-called knockout game is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The 24-year-old victim, who was wearing a yarmulke, told police he was walking home around 2:35 a.m. Friday in Brooklyn when he heard four men behind him talking about “knockout” — a relatively recent phenomenon involving random attacks on strangers for attempted knockouts, the New York Post reported.
The victim said the men’s conversation culminated in one of them punching him in the face, knocking him to the ground but not knocking him out.
The young man was able to flag down police officers, who arrested the four men.
Police said the Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident alongside other, unconfirmed reports of “knockout” related attacks. The victims of the attacks are frequently Jewish, police said.
The suspects, ages 38, 34, 31, and 28, all have criminal records, police said.
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