Borgen was kicked, punched, maced, and beaten to the ground by a group of several men on Thursday while on his way to attend a pro-Israel rally in Manhattan.
Joseph Borgen, a Jewish man who was brutally assaulted on Thursday as pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters clashed in New York City’s Times Square, said his face felt like it was « on fire » after the attack. Speaking to multiple news outlets after the incident, Borgen described being kicked, punched, maced, and beaten to the ground by a group of several men. The suspects also reportedly directed antisemitic comments toward him. « They were macing me for like a minute straight, » he said. « Kicked me, punched me, beat me with crutches, hit me with flags. My whole face… felt like it was on fire for hours, » Borgen told CBS2. The attack on Borgen, a 29-year-old who was wearing a yarmulke and kippah at the time of the assault, occurred while he was walking alone to attend a pro-Israel rally on 47th and Seventh Avenue. « I was literally just in a fetal position, trying to guard my head and face, literally just trying to make it out of there alive, » he told The Daily Mail. « I thought I was going to die. I thought I was really going to die. » Borgen told the outlet that he never imagined he would have to fear for his life like that in New York City.
