By Karen Ruiz and Stephen M. Lepore for Dailymail.Com
23:42 01 Jul 2024, updated 01:46 02 Jul 2024
- Kaye was attacked and subjected to anti-Semitic insults outside his court hearing
- He was charged with assault for hitting a woman at a Pride event
- The pro-Hamas group that calls them ‘Zionist pigs’ and ‘Jewish dogs’
New York investment banker Jonathan Kaye was attacked and subjected to anti-Semitic slurs outside his court hearing after he was charged with assault for punching a woman at a Pride event.
Kaye, 52, the now-former CEO of Moelis & Company, made headlines in early June after a viral video showed him punching a female partygoer at the Brooklyn Pride Parade on June 8.
He was arrested Monday morning after voluntarily turning himself in to Brooklyn police, where he was charged with second- and third-degree assault.
As he and his lawyer left the courtroom, they were met by assailants. At least one of them, a man, went after Kaye with keys that they tried to use as knives.
The group Kaye and his lawyer came into contact with also had anti-Semitic insults hurled at them, with at least one member of the pro-Hamas group calling them “Zionist pigs” and “Jewish dogs.”
The man attacked the lawyer from behind and then tried to chase Kaye with his car keys between his fingers.
Click here to resize this module
A woman eventually told the attacker to run, which he did. DailyMail.com has contacted the NYPD for comment.
This came after sources close to the financier came forward with their side of the story following last month’s controversy, claiming that the row was sparked after a group of four female supporters of ‘Queers for Palestine’ allegedly challenged the Jewish financier and pelted him with liquids as he left a nearby restaurant that evening.
Previously unseen footage obtained by DailyMail.com provides new insight into the events leading up to the fight, showing the two sides colliding on a street in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood before a violent physical altercation ensues.
Surveillance footage captured by a nearby restaurant shows Kaye emerging from the right side of the sidewalk as the group of partygoers appears to be hanging out on the corner.
As Kaye walks past, the two parties appear to exchange words. However, he continues walking and then looks at the group for a moment after they reportedly began hurling insults and abuse at each other.
As he continues walking down the sidewalk, he passes someone who seems to be heading toward the same group of friends in the corner. They also exchange a few words.
What exactly was said is unknown, but it was apparently provocative enough to cause Kaye to stop, turn and walk toward the group.
The confrontation quickly turns chaotic and physical, with Kaye being surrounded and then pushed out of frame onto the street, drawing the attention of bystanders.
Click here to resize this module
After the conflict plays out off-screen, he reappears a few seconds later and continues his way down the sidewalk.
Last month, sources told DailyMail.com that Kaye, who is Jewish, had told the group they were “on the wrong side,” prompting the women to attack him.
DailyMail.com has since learned that Kaye turned around and confronted the group about the anti-Semitic insults directed at him.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Kaye’s legal representative Danya Perry, of Perry Law, said: ‘Mr Kaye, a middle-aged Jewish man with no history of violence or aggression, was terrorised, attacked and surrounded by a group of unruly anti-Semitic protesters.
‘What the previously released video clip does not show, another video and other evidence we shared with the Public Prosecution Service do show: that these rioters formed a circle around him, doused him with two unknown liquids, pushed him to the ground and shouted anti-Semitic insults at him.
“Terrified and injured, Mr. Kaye managed to escape the situation in self-defense and return safely to his family. We hope the prosecutor will fully and fairly consider these facts, along with the wave of anti-Semitic acts, protests and attacks that have plagued our city. We will aggressively combat injustice and we look forward to a full acquittal for our client.”
As DailyMail.com previously reported, insiders close to the 52-year-old banker claimed the viral clip did not capture the entire conflict, which they said began when the group started hurling anti-Semitic insults at Kate, who is Jewish.
According to the source, Kaye allegedly told the group they were “on the wrong side,” after which the women attacked him.
“You could say he initiated it, but he didn’t,” a source told DailyMail.com.
‘He just said “you’re on the wrong side”, and then the four of them came at him – they threw liquids at him. He didn’t know what kind of liquid it was. They were shouting insults at him.
“He fell or got chest-bumped, and I don’t remember that part. But he ended up on the sidewalk with those four on top of him.
“He stood up and hit one of them as he tried to escape, and then he ran away.”
They also claim the footage shows Kaye covered in liquid and with a spot on his back, as seen in the video that has since gone viral.
Photos obtained by DailyMail.com show Kaye’s clothes soaked in a red liquid, which he believes was Gatorade, and blood pooling around his ankle after he was pushed to the ground.
Kaye was filmed punching an unnamed woman during a pride parade in Brooklyn on Saturday night, but the NYPD has not yet launched an official investigation.
Posters with his face, home address and cell phone number were plastered near his $4 million, four-bedroom home in expensive Park Slope, as neighbors became enraged and demanded the father of three be arrested.
The source defended the banker, who serves as a Managing Director at Moelis & Company, a leading investment bank with offices in Midtown Manhattan, saying the whole thing was “super anti-Semitic.”
They added: ‘You can clearly see in the video, if you slow it down, he’s wet because they were throwing fluids at him.
“That video clip is cut and doesn’t show the whole thing. He’s never been in trouble in his entire life, never been arrested or anything like that.
“It was a super anti-Semitic attack by four individuals conspiring against one Jewish man. It completely traumatized him.”
Kaye is currently under investigation by the bank, with a spokesperson confirming his identity and adding that they are taking the footage and allegations seriously. No official report has been made to the NYPD, although they are aware of the footage.
The clip shows the woman being thrown to the ground by the force of the blow, while a bystander tries in vain to help her.
Others watching hear Kaye called an “asshole” and told to “go fuck himself,” briefly catching his attention, after which he abruptly walks away.
Kaye, who lives with his wife, owns several properties on the street, which he rents out to neighbors.
One said she was “shocked” when she saw the footage this morning, adding that the father of three always seemed “normal” despite normally speaking to his wife.
Another resident described the chaos on the normally quiet street last night as the victim’s friends ran back and forth shouting that Kaye had attacked a woman.