Attack on Jewish students not a hate crime, officials say

Law enforcement has concluded that the attack on two Jewish students at the University of Pittsburgh was not a hate crime, nor was the assailant targeting a specific group, Pitt officials said.

A statement from Pitt on Tuesday offered no motive for why the suspect, Jarrett Buba, 52, of Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, confronted the students late Friday with a glass bottle. He was arrested by campus police and charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault and two misdemeanor counts of simple assault and reckless endangerment. A charge of resisting arrest and two summary charges of harassment were also lodged.

Dan Marcus, director of the Ed and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh (JUC), said he found the determination by law enforcement odd since the students were easily identifiable as being Jewish and the assailant wore a garment associated with support for Palestine.

“We’re a little shocked and surprised that this incident where two Jewish students that were walking to the Hillel Jewish University Center for Shabbat dinner, wearing yarmulkes, were attacked by a gentleman wearing a keffiyeh, was not categorized as a targeted attack,” he said.

One of the students told police he and another student, both wearing Jewish yarmulkes, were walking outside the Cathedral of Learning at about 6 p.m. when he had made eye contact with Buba, who was sitting at a table across Forbes Avenue, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

The students kept walking but moments later were attacked from behind, the complaint stated.

One of the students had several cuts on his neck. One of the students tackled Buba and detained him until officers arrived, the complaint said.

Buba, believed to have no affiliation with the university, was wearing a red sweatshirt and a keffiyeh, a garment commonly associated with support for Palestine, the complaint said. But the university said without elaborating that he was not targeting any group.

“We recognize that the determination that the incident was not a hate crime does not change the impact of the incident on the community, ” said Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer, quoting a message sent to campus by Carla Panzella, vice provost for student affairs, and Clyde Wilson Pickett, vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion.

For that reason, Stonesifer said, their message on Saturday focused on “resources for support and safety,” including making additional security officers available as escorts to students, faculty and staff traversing to Friday night services or other events.

District Judge Nicholas C. Martini denied bail, saying at Buba’s arraignment Saturday that the suspect posed a substantial risk to the victims and the community. The judge ordered Buba to undergo a behavioral clinic evaluation while at the jail awaiting a Sept. 12 preliminary hearing.

Buba could not immediately be reached, and records do not indicate who his attorney is.

Since last October, pro-Palestinian protests and counterprotests in support of Israel have heightened tensions on college campuses in this country since the Israel-Hamas War. A Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7 in Israel killed 1,200 people, and tens of thousands have died since in the Israeli military campaign inside Gaza.

Marcus said when Israel, the Jewish state, is continuously singled out and demonized, it fuels tremendous anxiety. But he also said students’ resilience and pride in their Jewish identity is only strengthened.

Pitt’s statement said the FBI responded to a request for assistance from the campus police and consulted with the District Attorney’s Office, which has not filed charges related to a hate crime.

Reached Tuesday, an FBI spokesman in Pittsburgh, Bradford Arick, said he could not comment on a motive for the assault.