Three Rutgers University students were arrested on Tuesday night and charged with rioting during appearances by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) at the Hillel and Chabad on the New Brunswick campus, and a fourth person, who is a teaching assistant at Cornell University, was charged with assaulting a police officer, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
“I always welcome a debate on the issues, even when I disagree,” Gottheimer told JNS. “But there’s absolutely no room for violence, especially against law enforcement, who are there to protect all of us.”
Gottheimer’s visit, during which his office said he discussed “the alarming rise in antisemitism on college campuses across the country” with students, came just over a year to the day after anti-Israel protesters pitched tents on campus.
“With so much hate and antisemitism across our country and our state, and even here on our college campuses, it’s more important than ever before that we remain united as one community to support each other,” stated the Jewish congressman, who is a candidate for N.J. governor.
“Let me be as clear as I can be: No student deserves to be targeted because of who they are or what they believe, here or anywhere,” the congressman added. “When the Jewish community at Rutgers is confronted by hate or intolerance, this is an attack on all of us, regardless of background, regardless of faith.”
The Rutgers Police Department had set up a protest zone, per the prosecutor’s office, but four protesters refused to clear the public sidewalk when the university’s police department asked them to do so.
When police officers formed a protective line, the four people tried to breach it. Police then declared the protest unlawful and attempted to disperse the demonstrators, but four of them—Thomas Whitehead (25), Lexi Tassone (21), Hanah Hassan (23) and Jasmine Rodriguez (24)—breached the line
The prosecutor’s office said that Whitehead, a doctoral student and teaching assistant at Cornell University, was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, rioting and resisting arrest. Hassan and Rodriguez, both students, were charged with rioting, and Tassone, another student, was charged with rioting and resisting arrest.
Whitehead remained behind bars at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Megan Schumann, director of public relations and content at Rutgers, stated that the matter remains under review, and Rutgers will take other actions, if warranted, in accordance with its policies and applicable law.
“Rutgers values free speech and the right to peaceful protest, but these rights must not come at the expense of safety, education, or institutional policies,” Schumann stated.
“The university will continue to uphold its policies, protect campus operations and promote dialogue in a manner consistent with our commitment to free expression and institutional integrity,” she added.
Bob Singer, a Jewish Republican state senator whose district includes Lakewood and its large population of Orthodox Jews, called last month for withholding state aid from Rutgers until officials show him they are adequately addressing Jew-hatred on campus.
