Recently, a Muslim high school student helped cops in a surprising way–by helping bust a homeless person who slapped an Orthodox Jewish woman’s face on a Brooklyn subway train Tuesday night.
17-year-old Ahmed Khalifa, who lives in Brooklyn’s Midwood neighborhood, apparently chased down 31-year-old Rayvon Jones after he assaulted the woman who was reading a book on a Coney Island-bound Q train. Khalifa told the Daily News that it was a hard slap–and the woman suffered a gash on her lip, along with swelling and bruising:
“It was a very hard slap, I almost could feel the slap. He was 6-foot-6, and a very big, big guy.”
Khalifa was riding the Q home after working a shift at the public library near Grand Army Plaza and saw the entire thing happen–he said the hit was so hard, the woman was knocked unconscious. When the subway stopped in the next station, Khalifa held the subway doors and told the conductor to stay in the station and call for help. He explained:
“A lady told me to run after the guy. It took me a while to catch up. He started sprinting.”
He also mentioned how he had to flag down a stranger on the street (who also happened to be Orthodox) to help him catch up with the culprit:
“He was driving, so I got in. We were just talking about how it was a hate crime. We found him at the bus stop and called the Shomrim (Jewish safety patrol).”
It was then that Khalifa spotted Jones waiting at a bus stop:
“I got out and looked at the window and yelled, ‘Get out you coward why are you trying to hide!’ He pulled on his hoodie like he was trying not to be recognized.
After the police removed Jones from the scene, Shomrim members–a volunteer watch group of mostly Haredi Jews–drove Khalifa home, asking why he stood up for the woman. He explained:
“Some people are like ‘she’s Jewish, why did you help her.’ I’m like everyone is equal. I treat everyone the same way.
It was just something anybody should do. It’s not that big of a deal to me.”
As of now, Jones was charged with assault. While Khalifa may not consider himself a hero, this is also not the first time he’s helped a strange. About seven months ago, he helped pull a suicidal homeless man away from jumping onto the tracks in front of a train. Clearly, Khalifa is something of a mensch.
Besides saving lives, Khalifa currently attends Midwood High School and plans to study mechanical or electrical engineering in college.
Watch a video where Khalifa is interviewed below:
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