Anti-Semitic Elmo Returns to Times Square
A New York man who wears an Elmo costume and spews anti-Semitic hatred was arrested again after he shouted epithets at passers-by in Times Square, the New York Times reported.
Adam Sandler, 48, not to be confused with the actor of the same name, was arrested late Tuesday afternoon for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, the paper said.
Local resident Brendan Hahn tweeted that Elmo was screaming about “filthy Jews” in front of the Toys ‘R’ Us in the heart of Times Square. Earlier this summer, Sandler was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center after yelling similar hate speech remarks in Central Park.
Sandler, who once ran a pornographic web site in Cambodia, was dressed in full Elmo garb, in an area of midtown Manhattan where cartoon characters often pose for photographs with tourists.
It is unknown how long Sandler had been canvassing Times Square, although a YouTube video posted last week shows a costumed Elmo cursing at passers-by. For fans of the more jovial Elmo, he will be appearing tonight on the Jimmy Fallon Show, which tapes at NBC Studios, about five blocks away from the arrest site.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO