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Pro-Palestinian protesters erupt during remarks of U.S. Antisemitism Envoy, Yehuda Kaploun.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is pressing city prosecutors to abandon attempted murder charges against a man who was shot by police after allegedly advancing toward officers with a knife during what relatives describe as a severe mental health episode.

The incident unfolded on January 26 in a Queens residence, according to body camera footage released by the New York Police Department. Officers were dispatched following a 911 call from family members who said 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty was in the midst of a psychiatric emergency and needed to be taken to a medical facility. During the call, a relative reported that Chakraborty had thrown a glass against a wall. When police arrived, they were allowed inside by a woman at the door, at which point Chakraborty appeared behind her holding a large kitchen knife. As the woman extended her arm in front of him, officers drew their weapons and issued commands.

Video from the encounter shows officers shutting the front door, placing it between themselves and Chakraborty. Despite the barrier, authorities say Chakraborty continued to press forward and attempt to push through the door, leading one of the officers to fire four shots.

Chakraborty was rushed to a hospital and remains in intensive care, where he is listed in stable but critical condition.

In the aftermath, the Queens District Attorney’s Office moved to pursue criminal charges against Chakraborty, who family members say has schizophrenia. Relatives have objected strongly, insisting they called for medical help, not law enforcement action, and arguing that police responses intensified an already fragile situation.

“Rather than de-escalate the situation, the officer instead further escalated by drawing his gun and yelling orders at Jabez,” the family wrote. “Within a minute of NYPD’s arrival, Jabez was shot multiple times and almost killed, while he was calmly eating food just minutes earlier.”

Mamdani, who centered his mayoral campaign on reforming how the city handles mental health emergencies, echoed the family’s objections and said prosecution is not the appropriate response in this case.

“In viewing this footage, it is clear to me that what Jabez needs is mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution from a district attorney, and we are talking about a family that is enduring the kind of pain that no family should and an individual that has lived with schizophrenia for many years,” Mamdani said.

“A person experiencing a mental health episode does not always have to be served first or exclusively by a police officer. It is important for us to have all of the options available,” Mamdani continued.

{Matzav.com}

1[Video below.] The Anti-Defamation League on Wednesday sharply criticized comments made by Dr. Mehmet Oz in a recent interview, accusing him of promoting harmful stereotypes about Hasidic Jews and warning that such language can worsen the current climate of antisemitism. The organization circulated excerpts from a two-week-old appearance Oz made on Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders,” saying the remarks risk fueling discrimination.

The comments came as Oz, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, was speaking about investigations into healthcare fraud in Minnesota. In trying to show that fraud cases are not confined to a single state, Oz referenced the Hasidic community in New York in a manner the ADL said unfairly cast them in a negative light, suggesting they were “foreign, criminal, or ‘not real Americans.’”

“Casting Hasidic Jews as foreign, criminal, or ‘not real Americans’ is straight out of the antisemitic playbook,” the ADL wrote on X. “This kind of rhetoric fuels harmful stereotypes and discrimination. Falsely blaming New York’s Hasidic population directly contributes to the climate in which the city just reported a 182 % year-over-year spike in antisemitic hate crimes in January. Words matter, and public officials must do better.”

Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, a former Republican Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, and a self-described secular Muslim, has taken on a more visible role in public policy discussions in recent years. Advocacy groups said that while he appeared to be drawing comparisons between states, his choice to single out New York’s Hasidic community drew particular concern.

Civil rights advocates have long warned that comments made by prominent figures about minority groups can shape public attitudes and, in some cases, contribute to discrimination or violence. The ADL said its response reflects broader concerns that even remarks made weeks earlier can take on renewed significance as antisemitic incidents continue to rise across the country.

WATCH:

Casting Hasidic Jews as foreign, criminal, or “not real Americans” is straight out of the antisemitic playbook. This kind of rhetoric fuels harmful stereotypes and discrimination. Falsely blaming New York’s Hasidic population directly contributes to the climate in which the city… pic.twitter.com/pD0t1bWRSN

— ADL (@ADL) February 5, 2026

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Thursday that demands made by Democrats for new restrictions on federal immigration officers are “unrealistic” and warned that the Department of Homeland Security will shut down next week if they do not work with Republicans and the White House. Democrats say they will not vote for a DHS spending bill when […]

You cannot describe it, but perhaps no words can better encapsulate Klal Yisrael’s preeminent Torah Convention than its official name of “Kinnus Olam HaTorah.” As Dirshu celebrates its 30 th Anniversary, this year’s convention to be held over the weekend of Shabbos Parshas Terumah 3- 5 Adar, February 20-22, at the Armon Hotel in Stamford, promises to be an […]

TRUMP: The United States is the most powerful Country in the World. I completely rebuilt its Military in my First Term, including new and many refurbished nuclear weapons. I also added Space Force and now, continue to rebuild our Military at levels never seen before. We are even adding Battleships, which are 100 times more […]

BREAKING: The FBI is now offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to Nancy Guthrie.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: We have seen the Iranian leadership wiring money out of the country like crazy. The rats are leaving the ship. That is a good sign that they know the end may be near.

A group of Poskim, Dayanim, and Rabbanim in Israel have issued a Kol Koreh calling on the public to boycott the ANU Museum of the Jewish People (formerly known as Beit Hatfutzot) in Tel Aviv, Chareidim10 reported. The p’sak was made in light of the persistent refusal of the management of the museum to comply […]

The Trump administration on Thursday will launch TrumpRx, a website it says will help patients buy prescription drugs directly from manufacturers at a discounted rate at a time when health care and the cost of living are growing concerns for Americans. The government-hosted website is not expected to be a platform for buying medication but […]

The IDF confirms that it carried out strikes a short while ago on tunnel shafts used for weapons storage at several Hezbollah sites across Lebanon.

Chrysler is recalling more than 450,000 vehicles due to a defect in trailer tow modules that can cause trailer lights to fail and brakes to malfunction, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. •⁠ ⁠Affected vehicles include 2024–2026 Jeep Wagoneer S, 2026 Jeep Cherokee, and 2025–2026 Ram 1500, 2500, 3500, as well as Ram 3500, […]

Iranian television aired footage of the “Khorramshahr-4” missile, claiming it has entered the stage of operational maturity and is being deployed from the Revolutionary Guards’ new “missile cities.” According to the report, the missile reaches speeds of approximately Mach 16 outside the atmosphere and around Mach 8 within the atmosphere, and they claim it is […]

President Trump on if he’d fire DHS Secretary Kristi Noem: “No, why would I do that. We have the strongest border in the history of our country.”

The Louvre is seeking restorers to repair the crown of Napoleon III’s wife after it was damaged in a museum robbery. The damaged crown was discovered several hundred meters from the museum. While the emeralds are intact, 10 diamonds near the base are missing.

TRUMP: “I don’t like sleeping on planes… I like looking out the window watching for missiles and enemies, actually.”

Israeli military officials announced that an airstrike in Gaza City on Wednesday killed a senior Hamas terrorist accused of murdering captive soldier Noa Marciano hy”d, when she was being held hostage in late 2023. The strike, carried out in Gaza City’s Shati refugee camp, killed Muhammad Issam Hassan al-Habil, a Hamas cell commander whom Israeli […]

A veteran police officer in Livingston, New Jersey has sued the township, alleging that he was punished and sidelined after reporting repeated antisemitic remarks and discriminatory behavior within the department. In a lawsuit filed in Essex County, New Jersey Superior Court, Officer Christopher Wagner claims that supervisors and township officials retaliated against him after he […]

Sen. Thom Tillis criticizes the investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, claiming he was “at the scene of the crime” that is alleged against him.

Chris Van Hollen: You suggested that Alex Pretti was culpable for his own killing because he had a gun…which he was licensed to carry…Would you like to retract that statement? Sec. Scott Bessent: I would not. Would you like to express remorse over the death of Ashli Babbitt…