Alaska Fox Reporter Threatens to Kill Anchorage Mayor, Goes on Antisemitic Tirade

Update: Aspen has been arrested; more here.

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In a disturbing voicemail obtained by the Alaska Landmine, FOX/ABC reporter Maria Athens threatens to kill Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and his wife. The voicemail was left on Friday morning, before Athens posted a video on her official Facebook page in which she makes an unsubstantiated claim that Berkowitz posted inappropriate photos to an underage girl’s website. In the voicemail Athens says, “You’re also a pedophile and like little girls and children.” She continues, “I will personally kill you and Mara Kimmel my goddamn self you Jewish piece of living fucking shit. You have met your match mother fucker!” Listen to the whole voicemail here.

Athens also says, “I can’t believe – I am such a good person – and thought I loved you.” Berkowitz released a statement in which he admitted to a “consensual, inappropriate messaging relationship with reporter Maria Athens.”

In a previous statement Friday afternoon, not long after Athens left the voicemail, Berkowitz stated that Athens’ accusations were false and appeared to “be the product of someone who is hostile and unwell.” Based on the voicemail, that seems to be accurate.

Row of Swastikas Spray Painted Steps Away from Louvre in Paris

Update October 15: The 31 year old man has been identified as Levan Tchikadze, DOB 1/14/1989 from Tbilisi, Georgia Caucasus. He faces a slew of charges but antisemitism is not one of them; more here.

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A man was taken into custody overnight from Saturday to Sunday, suspected of having tagged the swastikas. According to a source familiar with the matter, the suspect is a man born in 1989 in Georgia.

An investigation for “degradation” was entrusted to the reception and proximity investigation service (SAIP) of Paris-center, a Paris prosecutor said.

“During the German occupation in World War II, the rue de Rivoli had red Nazi swastika flags flying along its entire. The headquarters of the Military Governor of Paris (Gauleiter) was situated in the Hotel Meurice on that street.It was an eerie to see swastikas back”, commented Shimon Samuels, Simon Wiesenthal Center’s international director.

Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, stated, “preventing such intolerable acts is part of our mission… cleaning teams will intervene quickly to erase all traces of these messages.”

The Centre also backed French Interior Ministe, Gerald Darmanin’s “thanks to the Police for its rapid response.”

“Now we only await a similar approach from the judiciary to refuse –  too often in recent cases – an acceptance of such behaviour on grounds of psychiatric issues or narcotic/alcohol intoxication,” concluded Samuels.

Orthodox Man Punched in Face Walking on Coney Island Boardwalk with Family Suffered Broken Nose

An Orthodox Jewish man who was walking with his wife, who was pushing a baby in a carriage down the boardwalk in front of the Cyclone Roller Coaster at Surf Ave. and West 10th St. in Coney Island, on Tuesday at 6pm, when a six-foot tall African-American man “came out of nowhere,” probably from behind, to punch him in the face: breaking his nose and momentarily causing the man to need stitches and to momentarily lose consciousness.

Because the Boro Park resident cannot remember any other details about the assailant, who said nothing and quickly ran away, the NYPD do not have much to go on to investigate, although the police have categorized the attack as a hate crime.

  “One he got socked, the man really didn’t remember much,” said Boro Park Shomrim Coordinator Shmilu Follman who joined the police and Hatzolah, who were also on the scene. “We rolled around for about 30 minutes to see whether we could find anyone in the neighborhood who looked suspicious, but the place was pretty much deserted.

“For all I know, the assailant ran onto the train station, which is right across the street, and he disappeared.”

The police took a report, but the fact that the man could not remember much, and that no one else saw the attack does not bode well for the search for the assailant, Follman explained.

“I assume this was a biased attack. It was done to a Jewish guy wearing Chassidish clothing, but we always know we are targets out there, especially when we are not in our neighborhoods.”

Follman added that Yidden who are out on trips in neighborhoods other than their own, especially, to keep their eyes open to the dangers around them, G-d forbid.

“Everyone should have a safe Second Days, be careful, wear masks, and do social distancing as much as possible,” Follman said. “Always be careful and safe wherever you are. Always look around.”

Thief Breaks into New York Synagogue, Steals Sacred Torah Scroll

Police are investigating after a large Torah scroll and other religious items were stolen from a Jewish synagogue in New York.

The burglary occurred Sept. 25 at the Lincoln Park Jewish Center in the city of Yonkers. Surveillance footage of the incident, which was taken from both inside and outside the synagogue, was released on Monday and shows a suspect entering the building and then leaving with several large objects after changing clothes.

“The Yonkers Police Department is endeavoring to identify the suspect and return the Torah to its rightful place,” police said.

Torah scrolls are handwritten copies of the Torah, which includes the five books of Moses, the first books of the Hebrew Bible. The scrolls are produced under strict standards and are used in Torah reading during Jewish prayers.

When not being read, the Torah needs to be housed in the Torah ark. Jewish law states that the ark is the second holiest part of a synagogue behind the Torah scrolls. In this case, the stolen scroll was being kept behind an ornate, curtained-off cabinet in a section of the building that faces Jerusalem, the direction in which Jews traditionally pray.

Earlier this year, 18 Jewish community centers around the country were targeted in a wave of threatening emails that mentioned a bomb. Among those that received a threat was New York’s Albany Jewish Community Center, which was closed and evacuated while authorities searched the building but found nothing amiss.