Hasidic Trio Who Beat Gay Black Man Won’t Face Jail Time

The victim, Taj Patterson, is now permanently blind in one eye.
From: NewNowNext

 The three Orthodox Jewish men accused of beating a gay black man in New York have entered a plea deal that will likely see them avoiding any jail time, reports the Daily News.

Abraham Winkler, 40, Mayer Herskovic, 22, and Pinchas Braver, 20, allegedly attacked Taj Patterson, 25, as he was walking down Flushing Avenue in Williamsburg in 2013. The trio, members of a volunteer Jewish security patrol in the area, allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs as they beat him so severely that his eye socket became detached.

 Patterson is now permanently blind in one eye.

But after two witnesses recanted their testimony, the prosecution’s case was severely weakened. Patterson’s lawyer, Andrew Stoll, claims the witnesses were pressured into changing their story by members of the neighborhood’s insular Hasidic community.

 “The Shomrim claim they are committed to justice, yet they shut down witnesses with an efficiency the Mafia would envy. They banish and shun any member of their community who dares to come forward.”

The case largely crumbled once at least two witnesses to the December 2013 beat down changed their version of events after initially implicating the members of the Shomrim volunteer Jewish security patrol, sources said.

According to the News’ source, two of the suspects are accepting a misdemeanor charge, while a third will cop to a felony.