The incident, which dates back to June 29, happened at a public library in Asheville when the Jews were observing an anti-Israel discussion inside.
The event, “Strategic Lessons from the Palestinian Resistance,” was held during ACAB 2024, an annual three-day event attended by radical anarchists, Communists, and Antifa members.
The three victims who were attacked have been identified as David Moritz and Monica Buckley, who are Jewish, and an elderly attendee named Bob Campbell.
Buckley, who is known by the group, was livestreaming the event, “Strategic Lessons from the Palestinian Resistance,” on Instagram when a speaker noticed her and complained “Zionists” were filming the event. After being surrounded, a scuffle broke out.
Using surveillance camera footage, Asheville police have announced the arrest of one person, Taylor Zarkin, and have published photos of others suspected of attacking Moritz, Buckley, and Campbell.
Christian apologist and author Alex McFarland is also a North Carolina native. He says the three people are victims of terrorism.
“I call on the city leaders of Asheville to categorically unequivocally condemn this,” he says. “I call on the law enforcement of Asheville to do their job and prosecute, apprehend and prosecute criminals.”
Besides the anti-Israel group celebrating the October attacks by Hamas, McFarland says, they are also racists who violated the rights of Jewish Americans.
In the Instagram footage, Moritz, Buckley, and Campbell are seated in the back of the meeting room when they are noticed by the speaker. The unhappy attendees joke about how to “deal with” the unwelcomed guests, including someone joking about murder, then the crowd begins surrounding the three people. A loud “Free Palestine” chant breaks out and seconds later Buckley’s camera is dropped.
A statement by ACAB 2024 called Buckley and Moritz “well-known fascists” and blamed them for instigating the incident.
