"They're getting weird fast": Internet reacts as NYPD responding to secret tunnel discovery at a Brooklyn synagogue stirs riot

On Monday, January 8, Brooklyn's Chabad headquarters in Crown Heights was filled with police officers as a riot ensued due to a secret tunnel found. The secret tunnel reportedly connected Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters, also known as the 770, to a defunct women's Chabad mikvah.

The riot allegedly took place when a cement truck arrived on Monday to fill up and close the tunnel. Videos of the riot and the passageway went viral sending shockwaves down the internet as people speculated what those tunnels were for, and none of the speculations were positive. One X user commented on @rawsalerts' tweet regarding the incident:

Netizens were shocked by the chaos (Image via X/@rawsalerts)

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Online speculations rise about the mysterious hidden tunnel

Mystery and speculation were all around the internet when a riot ensued at the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Videos of the riot went viral showcasing Jewish individuals tearing down wooden structures and most mysteriously entering from a secret underground tunnel.

According to the Jewish news organization, Forward, the people who caused the riots were Chabad students, all in their late teens and twenties. The riot was reportedly a response to cement trucks arriving in the morning to seal off the hidden mysterious passageway. According to Crown Heights, the New York Police Department made 10 arrests because numerous people refused to exit the tunnel.

Videos showcased members of the synagogue ripping down the south wall wood panelling which revealed the mysterious passageway. According to Forward, this was 20 feet below the women's section. One of the viral videos showcased a man even climbing out of the burrow, which reportedly connected the headquarters with a defunct women's Chabad mikvah in the area.

There is still mystery and curiosity about the exact purpose of the hidden passageway. The questions of who and how many individuals built it are still unresolved.

Forward reported with the help of sources that the tunnel may have been built in the last year, or the last couple of years. A couple of pictures from the riot showed a baby rocker and a stained mattress in the passageway.

Netizens were shocked at the events that unfolded at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters. The discovery of the secret passageway led to a wide range of speculations regarding its purpose, from illegal property expansion to illegal transportation of goods. However, most were just shocked at the discovery.

Here are a few reactions from @rawsalerts' tweet regarding the incident:

The passageway was discovered back in December, amidst an ongoing legal battle between the owners of the synagogue and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. This led the leaders of the synagogue, the Beis Chayeinu to meet with a structural engineer to determine the damage to the building from the passageway, later the decision was taken to fill it up with cement.

According to Collive, the rioters who tried to stop the filling of the passageway were allegedly associated with Chabad Messianism, a Jewish movement that believes Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson was the Messiah. The Chabad-Lubavitch completely and publicly disowns the beliefs of the Chabad Messianists.

Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters released a statement in which he said that the community was "pained by the vandalism of a group of young agitators". He called the actions of the rioters "odious" and stated that the incident would be investigated. He also thanked the New York Police Department for their "professionalism and sensitivity."