Dissident clashes at Kiryas Joel bring out police for four days
MidHudsonNews.comKIRYAS JOEL – State Police had to quell disturbances over a four day period, by yeshiva students from the Village of Kiryas Joel, who were upset over a wedding that was performed last Wednesday night. They ranged from loud speaker blasts from a truck to an overturned vehicle.
The wedding was the first officiated on the property of the B’nai Joel School without the presence or approval of the main congregation.
Since then, state and local police officers have had to respond to Kiryas Joel on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
During the Wednesday wedding, a group of yeshiva students attempted to disrupt the wedding, and several residents of Kiryas Joel were harassed on the telephone by students from the main congregation UTA school, police said.
On Thursday evening, troopers were called to the area of Satmar Drive in the village. Yeshiva students from the main congregation had a non-resident rent a small box van. The students mounted speakers and played a broadcast denouncing the wedding from the previous night.
The van drove throughout Kiryas Joel until it became gridlocked in traffic preventing at least 30 vehicles from moving. Troopers responded and found a large group from the dissident congregation gathering around the vehicle. The occupants were taken back to the Monroe State Police barracks and issued several traffic tickets while the vehicles and crowd were dispersed by other troopers.
On Friday afternoon, another small box truck with speakers was used by the yeshiva students from the main congregation and parked in the vicinity of the parking lot near the synagogue in Kiryas Joel. A broadcast continued until the speakers were removed by a group from the dissident congregation.
On Saturday evening, State Police responded to the parking lot of the main synagogue on Garfield Road and found several hundred people gathered and a vehicle that was overturned by a disorderly group prior to their arrival.
Troopers, with the assistance of Town of Woodbury Police and Village of Monroe Police, were able to disperse the crowd and have the vehicle removed.
The owner of the vehicle was determined to be a relative of one of the parties married on Wednesday night.
State Police continue to patrol the area top prevent further activities from occurring and keep residents safe, troopers sat Sunday. The Village of Kiryas Joel Department of Public Safety has been relatively ineffective with assisting the State Police with the incidents causing State Police resources to become taxes in the Monroe patrol area, according to the State Police.
[Hat Tip: Seymour.]