Since Monday January 8, 2024, several videos have sparked a lot of questions and conspiracy theories on the Internet. We see what appears to be a police intervention in a synagogue. The publications claim that “secret tunnels” of mysterious origin have been discovered in the basement of the building.
The videos, filmed from different points of view, show several visibly angry people attacking the walls and furniture of a synagogue. The police are present, and some images show several people handcuffed. Some come out of a hole in a wall, which would be the entrance to the famous tunnels.
Numerous publications on Instagram, TikTok, X or Facebook take up and comment on these images, often with conspiratorial and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Some Internet users talk in particular about satanic rituals, or even child sacrifices. The presence of a stained mattress as well as a baby seat in the videos particularly fuels these conspiracy theories. Finally, the event also gives rise to the broadcast of fake photos generated by artificial intelligence.
FAKE OFF
These images were filmed on Monday, during the intervention of the New York police, the NYPD, at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. The building is the organization’s headquarters Chabad-Lubavitch, a branch of Judaism. Contacted by 20 minutes the NYPD specifies: “Around 3:30 p.m., police responded to 911 calls regarding an agitated group [disorderly group] outside of 770 Eastern Parkway. Upon arrival, police were informed that a group of individuals had illegally entered [dans le bâtiment] by damaging a wall. »
As reported by the local press, as the media CrownHeights.info (named after the neighborhood where the synagogue is located), the cause of the unrest visible in the videos is the intervention of trucks to close access to a tunnel discovered at the end of December 2023. The clashes are believed to be due to some of the faithful who would have tried to oppose the closure of this tunnel.
Shortly after the event, Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, president of the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, spoke in a communicated broadcast on social networks. “The Chabad-Lubavitch community is saddened by the vandalism of a group of young agitators who damaged the synagogue located beneath Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway on Monday evening. These heinous actions will be investigated and the sanctity of the synagogue will be restored. »
The NYPD also confirms that “a number of individuals have been taken into custody” and that “prosecution is underway”, without providing further details on the origin and cause of the conflict. American news agency Associated Press reports that nine people, between 19 and 22 years old, were arrested.
The trail of internal conflict
The first mentions of a tunnel discovered at 770 Eastern Parkway can be found in a article from CrownHeights.info dating from December 23, 2023. The media then writes: “The accidental discovery occurred almost three weeks ago after a series of incidents which raised the alarm among the Gabbai [personnes qui gèrent la synagogue] of 770″, “although details on the tunnel remain scarce, […] it seems that a group of bochurim [jeunes hommes/étudiants], began digging about six months ago with the aim of expanding the 770”. The site initially claimed that the tunnel had been dug during the Covid-19 crisis, before retracting.
This is also the explanation given by the American Jewish daily The Forwardwho explains that the tunnel was dug by “a group of meshichisten”. This term designates “messianists”, supporters of a particular and contested belief in the Chabad-Lubavitch movement (who believe that “Rabbi” Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the movement who died in 1994, is the Messiah).
Based on an anonymous testimony, the media suggests that the objective of these tunnels would be the extension of the synagogue, as would have been desired by Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In the background, the internal conflict is all the more visible as the community has been facing a succession crisis since the death of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who never appointed a replacement. This explanation is also that adopted by the New York Times.
“There is no network of tunnels”
Chabad-Lubavitch public relations manager Yaacov Behrman spoke on his account, arguing: “Dishonest individuals were trying to dig up an area to install an illegal cellar next to the synagogue. They were disposing of debris at a vacant neighboring property that had been unused for years and owned by an unaffiliated organization. To avoid detection, they dug a small passage between the illegal cellar and the neighboring property in order to get rid of the debris without being noticed. » Yaacov Behrman specifies that his remarks are “not an official statement”, and supports: “There is no network of tunnels under 770.”
Contacted, the latter declared to 20 minutes regarding Monday’s event: “The dishonest individuals who did this did not have authorization. We are pained and saddened by this vandalism. » Asked about the identity of the troublemakers visible in the video, he says: “I would say that they are not part of any official movement. I can’t speak for them, but they are not part of the mainstream. » He continues: “The reports that they wanted to expand the synagogue are probably accurate, but I am not going to psychoanalyze them. »
On the question of the presence of various objects visible in the videos, such as mattresses or the baby chair, Yaacov Behrman continues: “I have no idea, but it is probably part of the waste from an adjacent building that has not been used since 2007.”