Queens Man Caught On Video Making Anti-Semitic Threats At Costco

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Queens man was arrested Monday for yelling anti-Semitic slurs and threatening shoppers at a Long Island Costco over the weekend, according to Nassau County Police.

Justin Pichizaca of South Jamaica was caught on camera threatening two men and an 11-year-old child with physical violence and yelling "Nazis wanna f***ing kill you" on Sunday at the Costco at 605 Rockaway Turnpike in Lawrence.

Police said the video helped detectives make the arrest. Pichizaca, 20, now faces charges of aggravated harassment and menacing.

(Warning: The video contains very explicit language.)

HATE IS ALIVE IN NY: This happened in the @Costco in Lawrence, NY when a Jewish man was verbally assaulted by a neo-Nazi threatening to pull out a gun, attack him. If you know this man, please contact the Nassau County Police Department. pic.twitter.com/NgiPTxQ4WH
— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) December 8, 2019

Costco shopper Avrumi Fri, who took the video, said the incident started in the men's bathroom, where he said the man walked out of a stall and said, "The Nazis will finish you off."

He followed the man out of the bathroom, then began to record, telling the man, "Say it to my face."

Fri, who was at Costco with his wife and son, said the man then went on a minute-long, expletive-laced rant — but no bystanders stepped in. He reported the incident to a Costco manager, then called the police.

The man left the store when he saw the manager approaching and, on his way out, threatened to shoot a customer, according to Fri.

Fri claims that police officers said the man was mentally ill and that Fri became the aggressor by following the man out of the bathroom, and that he should have left the man alone. A detective later apologized to him for the officers' remarks, according to Fri.

"I strongly believe that the current political climate we live in has brought about the actions of the police today," Fri wrote on Facebook. "A Jew being verbally attacked does not fit the narrative that the current local government, both in Nassau County and NYC, want painted."

"In my humble opinion," he added, "the upper echelons and political figures may not be overtly saying it, but the message is being given that threats to Jews are not to be taken seriously."

Patch editor Alex Costello contributed reporting.