During an interview on CNN Friday morning, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the resurgence of covid-19 in parts of New York is mainly an “ultra-Orthodox” Jewish problem reports the NY Post.

During the interview, Cuomo was asked about lawsuits filed by the Brooklyn Diocese as well as a Jewish advocacy group challenging his new coronavirus safety restrictions on gatherings at places of worship saying that it’s a violation of freedom of religion.

“The cluster is predominantly an ultra-orthodox cluster,” Cuomo said. “This is not a matter of religious freedom,” the governor added.

But the Jewish community in New York City isn’t taking these allegations lying down. Many suspect an overtly antisemitic campaign targeting Jewish areas of the city where the lockdown is being enforced.

Heshy Tischler, a radio host and City Council candidate, blasted Cuomo’s decree to limit religious gatherings to 10 people in his Brooklyn neighborhood. ‘My father was the last of his family from the Holocaust,’ Tischler said. ‘I will not stand by idly. We are now at war. I will not allow the good name of the Jewish people to be hurt anymore.’ Tischler represented the hundreds of Jewish protesters into the streets of his Brooklyn neighborhood of Boro Park.

During the protest, the participants burned their masks, blocked traffic and reportedly chased away law enforcement. The protests were in response to new regulations that closed down schools and community centers.

Tischler also called Cuomo ‘a pig’ and said that the Jewish community is being abused by the new restrictions.

‘I cannot stand by while this animal hurts my people,’ Tischler exclaimed. ‘Families are being hurt and struggling.’