One person was arrested Friday evening after a group of Jewish students on the University of Pittsburgh campus was attacked by someone “yielding a bottle,” according to a university statement.
Court filings identify the suspect as Jarrett Buba. He had no known affiliation with the school, according to the university, and was “immediately arrested.”
Buba was charged with two charges of simple assault, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of dangerously endangering another person, two counts of harassment, and one act of resisting arrest, according to online records.
According to the criminal complaint, two students wearing Jewish yarmulkes were walking around campus near Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard when one of them made eye contact with Buba, who was sitting at a table across the street. According to the allegation, Buba was wearing a keffiyeh, a scarf that has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
According to the lawsuit, surveillance video shows Buba dashing across the street and approaching the two pupils who were traveling in a group. The two students claim they were hit from behind with a green glass sparkling water bottle, one on the right cheek and the other on the back of the neck, causing “several superficial lacerations.”
One of the victims attacked Buba and tackled him to the ground, detaining him until police arrived and apprehended him.
The two students were treated on the spot, and the institution said administrators contacted the Hillel Institution Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to offer assistance to students.
“While there is not believed to be any ongoing threat to the public stemming from this incident, we recognize that incidents like these are unsettling to our Pitt community,” according to the university’s statement. “To be clear: Neither acts of violence nor antisemitism will be tolerated.”
The event took place near the Cathedral of Learning, a key edifice on the university’s main campus.
The University of Pittsburgh Police Department stated that it did not believe the event was related to an earlier violent incident reported at the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, which are located across the street from the Cathedral of Learning. According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, a guy was shot in the leg near the complex at 5:30 p.m. and was taken in stable condition.
The autumn semester at the University of Pittsburgh began this past Monday.
Police said the inquiry is ongoing, and the institution confirmed that “local and federal partners” are assisting.
The FBI’s Pittsburgh field office is investigating the event as a probable hate crime, according to the criminal complaint.
