NYC real estate developer charged with driving into woman at pro-Palestinian protest

NEW YORK -- A New York existent property developer was charged with felony battle aft constabulary said helium deed a pistillate with his car during a pro-Palestinian objection led by students connected to the Columbia University protestation movement.

Reuven Kahane, 57, was arrested Tuesday greeting aft driving his car into a 55-year-old information marshal for the protest, according to witnesses and a New York constabulary section spokesperson.

The woman, who was treated astatine a infirmary for insignificant injuries, was besides arrested, but charges of transgression mischief against her and different demonstrator were dropped Wednesday by the Manhattan territory attorney. Kahane was released from custody portion helium awaits trial.

Kahane is related to Rabbi Meir Kahane, the Brooklyn-born laminitis of the Jewish Defense League, a radical that advocated for the removal of Arabs from Israel and orchestrated a drawstring of convulsive attacks successful the U.S. and abroad. Kahane’s governmental enactment was banned from the Israeli parliament successful the 1980s, and the U.S. classified the Jewish Defense League arsenic a violent group. He was assassinated successful New York successful 1990.

Reached by telephone connected Wednesday afternoon, Reuven Kahane, who lives successful the Manhattan vicinity wherever the protestation took place, declined to remark connected the events starring up to his arrest, but helium said helium had nary nexus the Jewish Defense League.

“What does my being a distant relative of idiosyncratic who passed distant 35 years agone person thing to bash with this?” helium said, describing his authorities arsenic “pro-peace.”

Police said the apprehension followed a verbal quality started by protesters progressive successful the demonstration. The conveyance moved during the confrontation, constabulary said, but Kahane is not accused of trying to mow down a radical of protesters.

Several students astatine the country disputed the NYPD's mentation of events. They said they were leaving the location of a assemblage trustee, wherever they had spent the greeting picketing and passing retired flyers, erstwhile Kahane began heckling the protestation from wrong his car.

They said Kahane tried to thrust done a crosswalk wherever the protesters were walking successful a group, prompting 1 of the unpaid information marshals, Maryellen Novak, to measurement successful beforehand of the conveyance to artifact its path.

“I saw her enactment her hands connected the hood of the car trying to halt it,” said Ava Garcia, 1 of the protesters. “The car kept moving, and she was pushed to the hood of the car due to the fact that it was accelerating. It was lone erstwhile she fell to the crushed that the car stopped.”

Ha Vu, different information volunteer, described herself arsenic “scared and shocked” by the scene. “Maryellen jumping successful beforehand of the car helped prevention a clump of people,” she said.

Police took Kahane into custody, on with Novak and different 63-year-old information volunteer.

The incidental came 1 week aft constabulary stormed Columbia University to extremity the concern of a assemblage gathering and wide an encampment acceptable up by pro-Palestinian pupil demonstrators.

In a statement, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a pupil radical affiliated with the encampment, described the altercation arsenic the “latest illustration of anti-Palestinian unit from Israel to the US.”