Man punches person at NYC ‘Pride’ event
After viral video appeared to show a man punching a woman on the sidelines of a ‘Pride’ event in Brooklyn, a source says there’s more to the story than the 10-second clip shows. (Credit: @hellosami/X)
A man accused of punching a woman in the face during a Pride and anti-Israel event surrendered to police Monday, authorities said.
Video footage posted to social media allegedly shows Jonathan Kaye, 52, striking a woman, sending her tumbling onto the pavement, as he flees the area after the June 8 Brooklyn Pride event.
He was arrested and charged with second and third-degree assault, the New York Police Department said. A spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office told Fox News Digital that Kaye turned himself in to police.
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Jonathan Kaye is pictured in police custody leaving the NYPD’s 78th Precinct stationhouse in Brooklyn on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The woman, identified only as “Micah P,” told NBC New York that the blow broke her nose in four places.
“When we saw him walk by we immediately, like, kind of just turned to each other and were like, ‘Don’t engage with that guy. He seems drunk or unhinged or something,’” she told the news outlet. “He seemed very angry when he walked by.”
Kaye allegedly called them “useful idiots” and continued down the block until she asked him what he said, she said.
He then turned around and began moving towards the victim, who said she splashed Kaye with water. The swing prompted shocked gasps from onlookers.
A source told Fox News Digital that it was a group of demonstrators who initiated the physical altercation after Kaye, who is Jewish, commented that they were “on the wrong side” of an anti-Israel protest.
Four people from a group the source described as either “Queers for Palestine” or “Trans for Palestine” allegedly surrounded Kaye after he spoke out.
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A 10-second viral video showing a physical altercation in Brooklyn Saturday night shows only a snippet of what happened at a Pride parade in Park Slope, according to a source with knowledge of the incident. (@hellosami/X)
They started throwing a “red liquid” on him as he attempted to back away from them, according to the source. Photos of his clothes show the stains and a bloody leg injury.
Kaye wound up on the ground, bleeding from his leg, according to the source.
“Here’s a guy with a prestigious job, zero history of violence, zero criminal history in his life,” the source said. “In his mind, he was doing what his body told him was necessary to get the hell out of there.”
At the time of the alleged assault, Kaye was employed by Moelis & Co., a Manhattan investment bank, where he was employed as managing director.
The source said Kaye suffered a leg injury when he fell, resulting in a long bloody scrape. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
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“As previously communicated, Jonathan Kaye has resigned and is no longer with the firm,” a Moelis spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
