Nine arrests as brawl breaks out after secret tunnel found under New York City synagogue

Video shows protests break out at a synagogue in Brooklyn, after leaders tried to cement shut a secret tunnel discovered under the place of worship

Nine people have been arrested after a mass brawl broke out at a Brooklyn synagogue over a secret tunnel discovered underneath it.

The fight erupted at the global headquarters of the Orthodox Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Crown Heights and it remains closed to the public after the incident.

Officials and locals said young men in the Jewish community recently built the passage in secret - but it is unclear exactly when and what its purpose is.

On Monday, the group’s leaders organised a cement truck to seal the opening, but then protesters turned violent and ripped off the wooden siding of the synagogue.

For several hours, police pleaded with the young men to leave the entrance to the tunnel, according to witnesses.

Jewish students riot against New York Police officers who were called to inspect a secret tunnel dug under the synagogue by students. Credit: AP

After they refused, the officers covered the area with a white curtain and entered the dusty crevasse with zip ties to detain the protesters.

“When they took the first person out with zip ties, that’s when the outburst happened,” said Baruch Dahan, a 21-year-old studying at the synagogue who filmed the congregants fighting.

“Almost everyone was against what they did, but as soon as people saw the handcuffs there was confusion and pushing,” he said.

Footage posted to social media shows scores of onlookers, mostly young men, jeering at the NYPD’s community affairs officers.

Some held wooden desks in the air, sending prayer books scattering. In response, an officer appeared to deploy an irritating spray to disperse the group.

Police then moved in to make arrests.

New York Police officers arrest a Jewish student after he was removed from a breach in the wall of the synagogue. Credit: AP

The passageway entrance is in an empty apartment building behind the headquarters.

It snakes under a series of offices and lecture halls before eventually connecting to the synagogue, according to Motti Seligson, a spokesperson for Chabad.

He said its construction was a rogue act of vandalism committed by a group of misguided young men.

“The extremists who broke through the wall to the synagogue, vandalising the sanctuary, in an effort to preserve their unauthorised access,” he said.

Chabad leaders declined to say when they discovered the underground tunnel but several worshippers said word of the its existence spread through the community in recent weeks.

A police department spokesperson said officers were called to the building in the afternoon to respond to a disorderly group that was trespassing and damaging a wall.

Nine people, aged between 19 and 22 years old, were arrested on charges including criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and obstructing governmental administration, according to police. Another three received summonses for disorderly conduct.

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