Watch true blue NYC construction workers square up with a man tearing down kidnapped posters of Israelis being held hostage by Hamas.
In captivating footage, 24-year-old Jacob Birn tailed the unidentified man for two blocks as he repeatedly tore down posters on telephone poles.
Birn spotted the man ripping up the posters and tossing their crumpled remnants while out on a jog in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.
He made sure to keep his smartphone recording when he chased the man across a street, as he was tearing down another poster, yelling “Yo my guy, stop that, stop ripping down signs.”
“They’re kidnapped, they’re kidnapping civilians,” he implores as the man ignores him and crumples another poster before moving onto the next street light pole.
“Women, children, grandmothers, older people,” the CEO of Addictive Ads goes on in the video. “What the heck are you doing?”
Birn, who is Jewish jogged past the man as he was about to tear down more posters and placed himself between the man and the pole.
“Don’t you rip off these signs now, you’re going to have to get through me to do it,” he insists, bravely blocking the man as he repeatedly tries to reach around him.
“These people are innocent civilians, don’t you understand?” Birn continues.
The man repeatedly says that he didn’t “recognize” the people on the posters as kidnapped.
Birn tells him that what he believes doesn’t matter because they’re on public property.
The jogger told the New York Post that the man “totally didn’t care,” about the people in the posters.
“He kept asking, ‘Do you have proof’ about the hostages and the kidnapping,” he told the outlet.
As the situation continued to escalate, two construction workers intervened. A man identified as “Paulie” told Birn to “put the phone down and punch him in the face.”
The advertising executive said he would, but didn’t want to get arrested. The man then used the distraction to try to reach around him.
“Show me the proof, this information,” he repeated pacing back and forth in front of the signs he claimed were “littering the city.”
NYC construction workers confront man tearing down signs of kidnapped Israelis
That’s when Paulie and his coworker had enough and hopped out of their vehicle.
“Just keep it moving already,” Paulie told the man. “Nobody needs to tell you s–t.”
The other unidentified construction worker could be heard off camera telling him, “Don’t do that, boss. Don’t do that s–t.”
“I know what you want,” Paulie continued. “You want one of us to punch you in the mouth. Which I’m dying not to. I’m dying to do it, I’m holding myself back.”
The man tries to approach Birn again, but is shut down by Paulie. “Save your f–king breath,” he told him.
The other construction worker pulls out a military ID and tells him he’s a veteran in an attempt to scare him off, but Paulie wasn’t done with his lesson.
“I’m not Jewish, he’s not Jewish, I don’t know if he’s Jewish,” which Birn affirms he is, as Paulie goes on. “It doesn’t f–king matter. This is the f–king USA, this is New York City.”
That’s when he let’s the man know what it means to be an American. “You don’t have a f–king right to touch that s–t,” he sneered.
“This is a free country, you can wave your Palestine flag and say death to the Jews or America whenever you want,” Paulie pointed out. “But we can put up signs. Okay.”
The man tried to talk over him, but Paulie cut him off. “You are offending us.”
The man attempted to interject again that the signs are littering the city, but Paulie continued to school him.
NYC construction worker nearly fights man ripping down signs of kidnapped Iraelis
“When you throw that on the floor you are littering the city, in a minute I am going to litter the f–king floor with you,” he menaced. “So move the f–k on. I’m dying to put you in the f–king hospital.”
Paulie’s coworker called out his name and rushed over to pull him back as he got perilously close to acting on his threat.
Birn told Paulie that the man wasn’t “worth it,” when a police SUV rolled up and the video ended.
He told the Post that Paulie was a “hero” who “went out of his way and he didn’t have to.”
“For this guy who’s not Jewish standing up and totally defend the Jewish people, is incredible,” Birn lauded.
“I felt proud to be a New Yorker – and supported by Jews and non-Jews. I felt proud to be in a city that defends its Jews.”
Thee video has 7.5 million views on X, formerly Twitter. Commenter’s are thrilled by the actions of Birn and the construction workers.
“Not all heroes wear capes,” someone replied.
“This is among the most American things I’ve seen. America does still exist,” another added. “I really hope it doesn’t die out in the coming generations.”
“How can I buy this man a beer,” someone asked. “More men like this please, thanks,” a woman posted.
