19-year-old charged with hate crimes in reported attack on Israeli student at Columbia U [View all]

[Behind the Aegis]

A 19-year-old is facing hate crimes charges for attacking an Israeli student during a confrontation related to Hamas’ attack on Israel.

The suspect, Maxwell Friedman, who police said is from Brooklyn, was charged with four counts for allegedly striking a student with a stick. The altercation happened after that student, who police said is 24, put up posters on campus about Israeli casualties and hostages.

Friedman was arraigned on Thursday, has pleaded not guilty on all charges and was granted supervised release ahead of the next hearing on Nov. 28. Her lawyer declined to comment to the New York Jewish Week on the case. While earlier reports said Friedman was a student at Columbia, the university has said she is not enrolled at the school.

The incident, which took place on Wednesday night outside the main campus library, happened as student groups across the country have staged rallies and made statements backing Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel or blaming Israel for the bloodshed. As war between Hamas and Israel has continued, battles have raged online over university responses, and Jewish groups have pressed for a more forceful response to pro-Palestinian groups’ rhetoric. Some major Jewish donors have pulled funding from universities due to their perceived lackluster condemnation of the attack.

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