Rev. Al Sharpton condemned “knockout” attacks Saturday but stopped short of calling for marches against the brutal hate crimes.
“This kind of behavior is deplorable and must be condemned by all us,” he said at his weekly National Action Network meeting in Harlem. “We would not be silent if it was the other way around. We cannot be silent or in any way reluctant to confront it when it is coming from our own community.”
On Monday, Sharpton and other leaders plan to discuss a “next move.”
“Kids are randomly knocking out people [from] another race — some specifically going at Jewish people,” he said. “This kind of insane thuggery — there is nothing cute about that. There is no game play about knocking somebody out, and it is not a game. It is an assault and is bias, and it is wrong.”
Critics of Sharpton suggested he could do more, but acknowledged his words as a “good start.”
“I would never condone what he did,” said Councilman Mike Nelson, referring to the incendiary language Sharpton used during the Crown Heights riots in 1991. “But if he wants to move forward, then we should move forward with him and quell any racial tensions.”
Sharpton led chants of “No justice, no peace” as rioters raged through Brooklyn following the death of Gavin Cato, who was struck and killed by a Jewish driver’s car. A day later, Yankel Rosenbaum was stabbed to death by a black mob.
During Cato’s funeral, Sharpton referred to Jews as “diamond merchants right here in Crown Heights.”