Jewish boy attacked in Queens, New York

The suspect said, “I’m bipolar. I wanted to kill the kid.”

By RACHEL WOLF
Police are pictured on the scene of a shooting at Triple A Aces club in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., October 12, 2019 (photo credit: REUTERS/LLOYD MITCHELL)
Police are pictured on the scene of a shooting at Triple A Aces club in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., October 12, 2019
(photo credit: REUTERS/LLOYD MITCHELL)
A seven-year-old Jewish boy is in critical, but stable condition after a man slammed him on the ground outside of his grandparent’s home in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. The boy was reportedly waiting for a pizza delivery outside of his grandparents’ house.
The boy’s grandfather, Naftali Portonoy, who has been living in the area for 40 years, told NBC New York that he had never seen anything like this in the neighborhood. According to Portonoy, the suspect said “I’m bipolar. I wanted to kill the kid,” NBC New York reported.
Police caught the suspect who was identified as 35-year-old Laurence Gendreau. According to Arutz Sheva, the NYPD charged Gendreau with assault, harassment and acting in a manner injurious to a minor.
Gendreau was bothering people in the neighborhood earlier that day, Portonoy told NBC New York. While his grandson was wearing a kippah during the attack, Portonoy attributes the attack to mental illness and not hate.
The New York Police Department has reported 311 total hate crimes through September, as opposed to 250 reported through the same period in 2018, according to Deputy Inspector Mark Molinari, who heads the department’s Hate Crimes Task Force.