Jewish Man Attacked in Northwest D.C. in Alleged Hate Crime

A Jewish man wearing a kippah was attacked on July 10 in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Foggy Bottom, and authorities are investigating the incident as a hate crime.

Ariel Golfeyz, 31, was walking toward the Foggy Bottom Metro station on his way to work at 8:35 a.m. when a man attacked him from behind.

“All of a sudden, … I see a fist and I hear a noise. That fist is the assailant … and he punches me at my right cheekbone area and I go down, and the noise is just my cheekbone,” Golfeyz said in an interview with the Washington Jewish Week. “It’s a loud noise.”

The perpetrator, 38, repeatedly punched Golfeyz and made antisemitic statements, some blaming Golfeyz for the Israel-Hamas war: “He was screaming very derogatory and antisemitic tropes.”