Bus From Popular Jewish Pride Music Video Torched; Video Of Suspect Released

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Authorities on Thursday released surveillance footage of a man who they say set fire to a brightly-colored school bus that was featured in a popular music video about Jewish pride.

At around midnight on Monday morning, the man torched the bus, which was parked on the corner of Maple Street and Troy Avenue, causing significant damage, according to police.

He then fled on Troy Avenue toward East New York, police said. He was wearing a white short sleeve t-shirt with writing on the front, black pants and a black baseball hat turned backwards.

The bus became a symbol of Jewish pride when it was featured in a music video by the singer Benny Friedman.

At a press conference Wednesday, Friedman said the purpose of the song was to "be loud and don’t be ashamed of who you are," DNAinfo's Rachel Holliday Smith reported.

Friedman also performed the song, standing in front of the charred bus.

A GoFundMe page had raised nearly $3,500 to "recover the bus" as of Thursday morning.

"Our Beloved art bus was torched and completely destroyed the other night," the page says. "Police just confirmed this was an arson. The possibility of a hate crime is still being investigated. It is time for such heinous acts to stop. We all deserve to live in safety. This incident will definitely not deter us from continuing to live our life in our own way. We will continue to think out of the box. We will continue living our life of art and creativity."

Authorities released this video of a suspect in the case:

Image via GoFundMe