A Jewish supporter of Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick was assaulted during a pro-Palestinian protest on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
A “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” formed on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus on Sunday, a re-establishment of the encampment that was formed in May.
Along with students, dozens of community groups organized to support the cause — calling on the university to divest from Israel.
Rarim Alshurafa, a member of the local Palestinian Solidarity Coalition, described Israel as “an apartheid state, an oppressive state, a genocidal state, and a state with clear missions to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from their land” and called on the University of Pittsburgh to mimic other institutions that have “decided to come to the realization to cut ties with Israel, to right their wrong and stand on the right side of history.”
Although students and protesters told Pittsburgh Action News 4 that the demonstration was mostly peaceful, a McCormick volunteer was attacked.
“One of my great volunteers was attacked by pro-Hamas supporters on Pitt’s campus,” McCormick posted on X. “He’s a Jewish student who was wearing a McCormick hat & proudly waving the American flag.”
McCormick rebuked the blatant antisemitism as “disgusting” and called on Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), whose seat McCormick is vying for in November, to “stand up & defend his Jewish constituents.”
McCormick previously slammed Cassey in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News in January, saying he is “weak” on Israel and refuses to call out members of his party for turning against Israel:
“The support [is] starting to splinter in the Democratic Party, and we need to have leaders that stand up and make the case,” he said.
He also hit the Biden administration and Casey for being weak on Iran, which backs Hamas, as well as proxy forces attacking U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, and commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
“The Biden administration and Bob Casey have been very weak on Iran. The original sin of Iran is where the funding is coming [from], to support Hamas and Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad.”
“Casey was one of the deciding votes for that Iran deal, which ultimately gave Iran the wherewithal to support all these proxy wars,” he added, and noted that Biden recently unfrozen billions of dollars for Iran in October.
He said the Biden administration has not applied hard sanctions to stop the flow of oil from Iran to China.
“I’m worried that if the Israelis do what they need to do to to destroy Hamas, that support will continue to splinter. And they’re worried too,” he said.
One University of Pittsburgh protester, 33-year-old Donald Johnson, was taken into custody for “aggravated assault, resisting arrest and obstruction,” although it is unclear if he is the person who attacked the McCormick supporter. The University of Pittsburgh said Johnson is unaffiliated with the school.
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