Several people who authorities say attempted to block a construction effort to seal a secret tunnel underneath a synagogue in Brooklyn, New York, were arrested following a chaotic protest.
Videos were posted on social media and several local news outlets that show the moments multiple students at the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights faced off against police and crews who were slated to fill in a tunnel. They disrupted crews by reportedly disconnecting hosing and vandalizing trucks before breaking down wooden paneling in the main shul and demolishing the room’s main wall.
The tunnel they worked to preserve reportedly connected the headquarters to a structure on the same street However, it’s unknown at this time who exactly took part in the excavation and why.
Several people are shown on videos being led away in handcuffs after the protest. At least 12 people were arrested on Monday, according to PIX 11 News.
Motti Seligson, the director of media at Chabad Lubavitch, posted a statement to illuminate the public on what happened.
“Some time ago, a group of extremist students, broke through a few walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue at 784-788 Eastern Parkway, to provide them unauthorized access,” Seligson wrote. “Earlier today, a cement truck was brought in to repair those walls. Those efforts were disrupted by the extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalizing the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorized access.”
According to the Jewish publication Forward, the students who attempted to halt crews’ efforts have ties to Chabad Messianism. Followers of this sect reportedly believe that Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, was the Messiah — beliefs the Chabad-Lubavitch movement have publicly denounced. The Chabad is one of the largest groups of Hasidic Jews in the world, the Hindustan Times reports.
Even before this incident, a lengthy legal dispute has been playing out over ownership of part of the complex for years.
Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the chairman of Chabad Lubavitch HQ, also posted a statement from the official headquarters’ social media pages stating that the synagogue’s community is “pained by the vandalism of young agitators.”
“These odious actions will be investigated, and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored,” Rabbi Krinsky wrote.
“Upon arrival, officers were informed that a group of individuals unlawfully entered 770 Eastern Parkway by damaging a wall,” a police spokesperson told the Daily Mail. “At this time, it is known that a number of individuals were taken into custody. Charges are pending. No injuries were reported as a result of this incident.”
