New York City Mayor Eric Adams said city officials are investigating a “horrific display of antisemitism” in which students at a Queens high school reportedly rioted after learning that a teacher attends a pro-Israel rally.
The incident shut down Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Hills, Queens, for two hours Monday and forced the teacher to hide inside a locked office as students rampaged through the halls, the New York Post first reported.
“The heinous display of antisemitism at Hillcrest High School was motivated by ignorance-fueled hatred, plain and simple, and it will not be tolerated in any of our schools, much less anywhere in our city,” Adams wrote in X.
“We are better than this,” added the mayor.
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New York Mayor Eric Adams said NYC Public Schools has begun a full investigation into how the “vicious display of antisemitism” occurred at Hillcrest High School in Jamaica Hills, Queens. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The students planned the protest after seeing a photo on Facebook of the teacher holding a sign that read, “I stand with Israel,” the report said. In the students’ group chat, they talked about “starting a riot,” one student told the outlet.
Shortly after 11 a.m. Monday, hundreds of youths poured into the hallways, where they chanted, waved Palestinian flags and shouted that the teacher “had to go,” according to the report. Some parts of the incident were captured on video and posted on TikTok.
The teacher, whose name has not been released publicly, has worked in the city school system for 23 years and has taught at Hillcrest for the past seven years. She told the Post that she was “shaken to my core” by the calls of violence against her online and in the hallways outside her classroom.
“No one should feel unsafe at school — students and teachers alike,” the teacher said.
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Adams said NYC Public Schools has begun a full investigation into how the incident occurred. He also said Project Pivot teams will begin outreach to Hillcrest students this week “to make sure they understand why this behavior is unacceptable.”
“No student, teacher, or staff should fear for their safety in our schools,” the mayor said.
Since Hamas terrorists launched a deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, American Jews became the target of increased antisemitic hatred.
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In New York City, the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force investigated 69 anti-Jewish incidents in October, a 214% surge compared to the same period last year.
