A Jewish Cybertruck owner says he caught an anti-Elon Musk protester defacing his vehicle with a Nazi symbol and is demanding the perpetrator be charged with a hate crime.
Avi Ben Hamo, who reportedly caught Michael Lewis, 42, drawing a swastika on his Cybertruck with the word “Elon” at the top, urged officials to press charges during “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday.
“I don’t feel safe anymore in Brooklyn or in New York,” Ben Hamo told Steve Doocy.
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“[You’re] not supposed to go ahead and do something to other people[‘s] car[s], and that’s literally antisemitic. I think we have over here a bigger issue that in the city, the police, the DA… should charge people like this and should prosecute people like this.”
“They need to pay for it. Otherwise, other people are not going to be safe, and Jewish people are not going to be safe in the city,” he continued.
Michael Lewis, 42, was accused of drawing a hate symbol on a New York City Cybertruck. (J.C. Rice)
Lewis, who is also Jewish, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated harassment and later released, according to his attorney, Mark Luccarelli.
Ben Hamo said he approached the man when he saw him drawing an “antisemitic” symbol on his vehicle to ask him what he was doing.
“I didn’t know what [was] really going on,” he said. “I see this very antisemitic swastika on the car, and I didn’t understand. I approached him and asked, ‘What are you doing?’ And he told me very, very disgusting things.”
Ben Hamo said he stood in front of Lewis’ car after he tried to flee the scene, but after he dialed 911 Lewis ran away.
“He tried to run me over with his car,” Ben Hamo said. “When he saw that I called the police… he went outside, locked the car and ran away and left his car blocking the bike lane.”
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Shortly thereafter, Lewis went back to the scene to retrieve his car, but was greeted by four police officers, along with a New York Post reporter and photographer. That’s when he was placed in handcuffs.
Luccarelli told Fox News Digital on Sunday the Nazi symbol was traced in the dust on the Cybertruck and no damage was done to the vehicle.
“Our client, who is also Jewish, deeply regrets touching the other man’s car and using a hate symbol in the message,” Luccarelli. “He was dealing with a host of personal issues at the time and the action was out of character. As to the criminal case, he was released from custody without any charges because no damage was done to the vehicle and no crime was committed.”
Meanwhile, Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with cutting wasteful government spending, has been criticized by leftists since its creation in January.
Teslas, Tesla dealerships and charging stations around the country have been targeted by liberals angry at Musk for working with President Donald Trump.
Despite Ben Hamo’s admission that he no longer feels safe in the city, he said he will continue to drive his Cybertruck after the incident.
“I love the car,” he said. “Nothing specific about politics or Elon Musk or nothing. I just like electric cars.”
Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
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