A crowd of police in riot gear marched down Crown Heights’ Eastern Parkway one day this week to applause and salutes from some of the neighborhood’s Haredi residents.
Another day, amid another Black Lives Matter protest, a Jewish man with side curls offered the throng in Williamsburg a double thumbs-up. Over on Williamsburgh’s Bedford and Penn Streets, another Haredi Jew handed out water bottles to protesters and police officers alike.
Miles and hours apart, these scenes reflect the range of Orthodox Jewish reactions to the roiling demonstrations against the police killing of the unarmed black man George Floyd. Opinions differ by neighborhood and of course by individual — some Haredi New Yorkers are applauding the demonstrators, but many feel like they have gone too far. As in all communities, some have conflated the masses of peaceful protesters with the sporadic looting and vandalism, while others are careful to keep the distinction.
