A Jewish family that was allegedly assaulted in an anti-Semitic attack at a Brooklyn public school’s fifth-grade graduation ceremony plans to file a lawsuit against the city seeking $100 million in damages, The Washington Post has learned.
The infamous, video-captured mayhem that took place at PS 682 in Gravesend on June 14 included Johan Nunez being hit over the head with a woman’s black high heel and his wife, Lana Lerner, being dragged to the ground by her hair, said the family, who filed a notice of claim on Monday that is a precursor to a lawsuit.
“My children will forever remember their fifth-grade graduation not as a joyous occasion — graduating with honors — one of their greatest accomplishments, but as a time when their family was attacked,” Learner, 42, told The Washington Post.
“I hope that no other family has to go through what mine went through, I hope that no other children have to witness what my children witnessed,” the still-reeling mother said.
The attack is just one in a series of alleged anti-Israel hate crimes that have taken place in the city since the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas carried out a vicious attack against the Jewish state of Israel on October 7.
The incident occurred after a boy wearing what appeared to be a school-sanctioned graduation cap reading “Liberate Palestine” crossed the stage waving a small Palestinian flag as he received his diploma.
Ms. Learner, an underwriter with twin children who were about to graduate at the time, remembers her own mother retreating in disgust and standing up.
“We can’t sit back and watch this,” Lerner’s mother, a Jewish refugee from Ukraine, told her daughter in Russian.
Another woman sitting next to Learner turned to her and said, “I can’t believe we just witnessed that.”
Another shocked parent said she asked the school administration why such a thing was allowed at a school graduation ceremony.
“Administrators basically told her, ‘We contacted the legal department and they said this is free speech and it’s allowed,'” Lerner said.
After graduation, Lerner and other family members gathered at the school’s balloon display to take photos.
That’s when the boy’s extended family, wearing Palestinian hats and flags, approached and tried to push them away, according to the lawsuit.
“They were trying to push my mom out of the way,” Lerner told the Post. “She turned to them and said, ‘Excuse me, please stop pushing. There’s plenty of space.'”
“An elderly gentleman [turned] All of a sudden, they said to us: “Liberate Palestine.”
Learner said her husband tried to de-escalate the situation by saying, “Now is not the time or place for this.”
But one of the men from the other family continued to shout: “Free Palestine! Gaza is ours!”, she said.
Another unidentified, younger member of the family then allegedly approached and struck Nunez in the temple, put him in a headlock and dragged him to the ground.
According to the family, multiple people joined the altercation, including a woman who hit Nunez with a black high heel.
Learner said his 16-year-old son tried to move people away from his father but ended up covered in blood himself.
She tried to record it on her cell phone, but minutes later “a female member of the same family came up to me on my left side, pulled me by my hair, threw me to the ground, kicked me and said, ‘I’m going to kill you,'” she said.
The fight was eventually stopped by two male teachers.
Police eventually arrested Ezz Al-Deen Bazar, 26, who is accused of punching and dragging Nunez, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. Bazar’s lawyer did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Lerner’s family alleges negligence, assault, emotional distress and civil liberties violations over the young graduate’s hat and flag.
By allowing the hats and flag, the school “permitted anti-Semitic messages to be displayed at school events and incited hostility,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also says the school was “negligent” in providing adequate security.
Asked for comment by The Washington Post on Monday, the city Education Department pointed to an earlier statement it had issued about the unrest.
“Graduation ceremonies should be a time of celebration and joy and we strongly condemn anyone who behaves violently or aggressively at such events,” the ministry said in a statement. “Initial reports received from multiple witnesses indicate that both families engaged in aggressive behavior, however we are still investigating the matter and are simultaneously working towards a resolution in consultation with the families.”
A Ministry of Education source said multiple witnesses, including the vice principal, reported that both sides were being inappropriate and would not stop the fight.
The city’s Law Department declined to comment.
“We intend to pursue civil lawsuits not only against the Department of Education but also against those responsible for this horrific assault,” the family’s attorneys, Sanford Rubenstein and Mark Cillian, said in a statement.
“Personally, I don’t think a fifth-grade graduation is the time or place for any kind of political statement,” Learner said.
“This is a time for fifth graders to celebrate a milestone in their lives, not a time to make it a political event.”
