WATCH: Teenagers Throw Pole Through Synagogue Window in Brooklyn

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Police in New York are searching for a group of teenagers who were caught on tape hovering around a synagogue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The teenagers spent a while hanging out in front of the synagogue on Saturday evening before one of them hurled a metal pole through the synagogue’s window. Then the entire group took off running.

The NYPD says they are searching for four boys, all about 16 years old.

The pole smashed through a window and frightened people inside the synagogue, who were saying their evening prayers for the Sabbath. The synagogue, on Franklin Avenue near Myrtle Avenue in Williamsburg, is in a largely Hasidic neighborhood. Hasidic Jews practice an orthodox form of Judaism and wear distinctive clothing. They are sometimes the targets of hate crimes.

The pole did not hurt anybody. It caused about 250 dollars in damage, according to the New York Post. For now, congregants have covered the window with a plastic garbage bag.

The attack came just a few days after Union Temple, a historic synagogue in Brooklyn, was vandalized. On Thursday, an employee at Union Temple found a series of disturbing messages scrawled in black marker all over the inside of the building. The messages said “Hitler,” “Jews better be ready” and “Die Jew rats, we are here!” They were written in the hallways and the stairwells on the synagogue. Police said there were also drawings of the Puerto Rican flag, and the words “Free PR” were written in black marker on walls.

Police have arrested James Polite, a 26 year old from the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, in connection with the graffiti. You can read more about James Polite here.

The NYPD says that in 2018, anti-Semitic “incidents” have made up half of all the hate crimes committed in New York City. There have been a total of 142 crimes committed which were motivated by bias against Jews, according to NYPD statistics.

Some of those incidents, like well-publicized attacks on Hasidic Jewish men in Brooklyn — were violent in nature. Others — like the appearance of swastikas and hateful messages in synagogues around the city — were not violent but were classified as hate crimes because of the message they contained.

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