by Farrukh Abadi
A passerby was shot by an attendee of a pro-Israel demonstration in Newton, MA on Thursday.
According to the Newton district attorney, the passerby exchanged words with the attendees of the protest before crossing over to the protest. A video of the incident shows the passerby telling the Zionists, “you’re supporting genocide”, with the Zionists responding mockingly. The passerby crossed the street and a scuffle ensued, which ended when the passerby was shot in the stomach by Scott Hayes, a veteran of the US imperialist invasion of Iraq. Hayes had previously posted a picture of his gun a few months prior on X with the caption “Hey Jew haters. Bring it.” The passerby was hospitalized and expected to survive his injuries.
The police have applied for a criminal complaint against the passerby for assault and battery. The office of the district attorney stated: “An assault and battery that does not occur in the presence of a police officer is not an arrestable offense. The person charged is then entitled to a hearing before the Clerk Magistrate to determine whether probable cause exists.” The passerby remains under investigation.
Hayes was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and violation of a constitutional right causing injury. He has been released on a $5,000 bond, a GPS monitor, a curfew, and his license to carry has been suspended. Hayes claims to have acted in self-defense—despite Zionist goons outnumbering the anti-genocide passerby 5 to 1—and a plea of not guilty was submitted on his behalf.
In an attempt to defend the reactionary violence of the Zionist demonstrators, bourgeois media have rushed to describe the incident as antisemitic, despite the protester involved not being Jewish.
Dozens of supporters of Palestinian liberation have been attacked by reactionaries in the United States over the last year. These include a Palestinian mother and child stabbed by their landlord in October 2023, three Palestinian students who were shot in Vermont last November, and a number of demonstrators in Austin attacked with a knife in February.
