Jewish man clocked in ‘knockout’ attack

ANT KATZ

This is a “very creepy trend and making conservative headlines in the US a lot,” says user Sarah, an expat now living and working in Seattle. “Jews aren’t the only victims, but it’s becoming a pattern.”

Shmuel Perl, who was wearing a yarmulke, had nearly reached his Borough Park home at 2:45 a.m. when he overheard four drunken punks blabbing about “knockout” — the sick social-media-driven game in which participants sucker punch passers-by with the goal of knocking them unconscious, sources said.

“I was walking home on the way back from my job. I came across a group of people who were walking towards me, and I was able to hear them speaking loudly about this knockout game,” Perl, 24, said in a video interview obtained by The Post.

With so many South Africans travelling to the US, and so many expats living there, Sarah submitted this NEW YORK POST story to ward fellow-users of SAJR Online

One of the hoods challenged another in the group, saying, “I know you can’t do it,” as another chimed in, “No, you can’t do it.”

Watch me do it

“Yeah, I can do it! Look, I’ll do it to this guy!” one of the gang, a 28-year-old with a lengthy rap sheet, allegedly shouted.

The man then allegedly belted Perl square in the face, the sources said, making him the latest victim of the vicious game that has been on the rise across the country and has terrified New York City’s Jewish neighbourhoods.

“As I’m walking on the sidewalk, the group surrounds me, and one of them, as I try to get away, one of them stepped out towards me and, with a closed fist, hits me in the face,” Perl said in the video, which was recorded by Shomrim, the Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood patrol.

“As I was able to walk away from them, they called after me, ‘Come back. I can do this. I will knock you out.’ ”

Perl wasn’t seriously injured and quickly called Shomrim.

Four suspects, who had been celebrating the alleged puncher’s birthday, were collared at the scene. Charges were pending ­Friday night, sources said.

The NYPD is investigating eight other recent attacks against Jewish people to determine whether they were also part of the trend.

In Jersey City, a 46-year-old homeless man died in September after someone sucker-punched him and he hit his head on a fence.

The knockout game has gained popularity across the country as participants have gone online to boast about their assaults.