A man was arrested and charged for allegedly punching a Jewish Columbia University student during an anti-Israel protest last week, according to the New York Police Department.
Manhattan resident Tarek Bazrouk, 20, was arrested on Monday by the NYPD and charged with robbery in the third-degree and robbery in the third-degree hate crime.
A week earlier, at a protest against Barnard College by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a 22-year-old male victim reportedly entered into a verbal dispute with the suspect.
The NYPD said that the suspect made antisemitic remarks and then grabbed the victim’s Israeli flag. When the victim attempted to retrieve the flag, the suspect punched him in the face and fled the scene.
The crime is being investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force, and Columbia University’s Office of Public Affairs said there was no indication that the suspect was affiliated with the university.
Columbia condemned the incident
“We want to be absolutely clear that any act of violence against a member of our community is unacceptable,” said the university.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said last Tuesday that she was outraged by the “antisemitic attack,” and last Wednesday, Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) described the university as “ground zero” for campus antisemitism in New York.
CUAD had held the protest against Barnard in an attempt to pressure trustees of what it saw as the “weak link” of Columbia University.
“On the road to divestment, Barnard will be the first domino to fall – an instrumental piece in toppling the entire university,” CUAD said in a December 7 Instagram post advocating for the adoption of anti-Israel policies.