Heshy Tischler is due in court Monday after he was arrested in the alleged attack of a reporter during a demonstration protesting new restrictions in some neighborhoods of New York City.
His Lawyers say “He’s not guilty. There’s a lot of facts that are gonna come out in the case”. Also noting that Tischler is an older man and they will “rush him out” because of COVID.
Tischler, an activist in the city’s Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park, was taken into custody Sunday following an Oct. 7 protest against new, stricter, COVID restrictions by Gov Andrew Cuomo.
In a video from the protest posted to social media, Tischler and others are seen encircling and screaming at Jacob Kornbluh, a journalist for Jewish Insider who has reported on the resistance to the COVID-19 restrictions. Kornbluh also claims he was kicked by the crowd.
On Twitter, Kornbluh wrote that Tischler “recognized me and ordered the crowd to chase me down the street.”
Tischler, who is also a talk show host and candidate for City Council, called his arrest a “political stunt” on Twitter.
Late Sunday, several dozen men, some carrying “Trump 2020” flags, also gathered outside Kornbluh’s Borough Park apartment to protest Tischler’s arrest.
Last week, Tischler said he had made a deal with police to turn himself in on Monday morning, but when he was arrested on Sunday, he claimed he had been “tricked” by authorities, according to a video posted to Twitter.