Arrests as police uncover secret tunnel under synagogue in New York
New York Police Department uncovers illegally built tunnel under Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in Brooklyn.
Videos circulating on X showed synagogue members exiting from the tunnel, with a scuffle ensuing as they resisted the police. / Photo: AP
More than 10 Hasidic Jewish worshippers have been arrested after clashes broke out at a historic synagogue in New York, local reports have said.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) uncovered an illegally built tunnel under the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
Videos circulating on X showed synagogue members exiting from the tunnel, with a scuffle ensuing as they resisted the police.
Mattresses were also found in the tunnel.
With the motive for digging the tunnel unclear, police launched an investigation.
Motti Seligson, the spokesperson for Chabad Lubavitch, said on X that some time ago, "a group of extremist students" broke through a few walls in adjacent properties to the synagogue to provide them with "unauthorised access."
At least 10 members of a New York City synagogue were arrested following a scuffle with the NYPD after they refused to allow what appears to be a secret tunnel under the synagogue to be sealed off, according to local sources.
— TRT World (@trtworld) January 9, 2024
Videos circulating on X showed the synagogue members… pic.twitter.com/62U0EUNkty
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