Man continues antisemitic rants at Queens College
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An unidentified man has continued spouting antisemitic and racist remarks outside of Queens College this week, despite racking up a number of police-issued summonses. Photos via StopAntisemitism/Twitter
By Jacob Kaye
The man spotted spewing antisemitic and racist remarks through a bullhorn outside of Queens College last week has continued showing up to the college campus almost daily, despite being told by police multiple times to leave.
The unidentified man, who is not believed to be a Queens College student, was seen standing outside of the CUNY school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, shouting antisemitic and racist tropes at students, faculty and staff and they walked to and from the school’s campus.
Though he hasn’t been arrested, the man has continued to rack up summonses for noise and parking violations. Queens College officials have additionally barred him from entering onto the Kew Gardens campus.
The leader of the Queens College Hillel, the local chapter of the Jewish student life group, said the man’s presence has likely worried many of the approximately 4,000 Jewish Queens College students.
Additionally, the 34-year-old man allegedly got into a physical fight earlier this week with another person, who also wasn’t a student at the school and who was attempting to get the man to stop his antisemitic rant.
“We're incredibly concerned,” said Jenna Citron, the director of the local Hillel chapter. “Students shouldn't feel intimidated or feel fear for their safety while walking to and from class.”
The incidents come as hate crimes against Jewish New Yorkers increase. Last month, there were 24 antisemitic hate crimes reported and confirmed by police, a 118 percent increase when compared to August of last year, according to NYPD statistics released this week. Hate crimes committed against Jewish New Yorkers account for the majority of hate crimes committed in 2022, data shows.
“Queens College, through its Public Safety Department, has consistently reported to the NYPD all instances in which this individual—who is not affiliated with the college—has utilized sound equipment outside of the campus gates,” said Maria Matteo, a spokesperson for the college. “We will continue to alert the NYPD as appropriate.”
The incidents began last week on Wednesday, Aug. 31, when the man showed up to the school inside a white car, parked it inside a crosswalk, poked his head up through the car’s sunroof and began to shout a racist screed through a megaphone.
Campus security attempted to intervene but were unable to enforce any of the school’s policies because the man wasn’t standing on school grounds, according to the school’s Chief Diversity Officer and Dean of Diversity Jerima DeWese.
Public safety officers called the community affairs unit within the 107th Precinct, who arrived around 7 p.m., according to the NYPD.
Police issued the man two summons – one for using the megaphone without a permit and a second for parking in the crosswalk, according to law enforcement. Officers also confiscated his bullhorn, police said.
However, the man returned later in the week, and has been at the campus at some point every day this week, according to a source within Queens College.
The man has disparaged not only Jewish people, but also Black people, Muslims and Christians, according to school officials.
The man’s presence prompted school officials to send out multiple communications to the Queens College community, addressing the incident and explaining what actions the school had and hadn’t taken.
As part of the school’s response, the Hillel chapter hosted a “community conversation” on Wednesday evening, in an effort “to listen, to hear and to help students process what they're feeling and then find constructive ways to turn those feelings into action,” according to Citron.
Queens College is home to the seventh-largest population of Jewish students in the U.S.
“That's a lot of students that have had to walk past him every single day just to get to class and go home again,” Citron said. “I think this is something important to sort of think about and internalize about what that means for each individual every single day and the effect that that's going to have on students if he continues to be on campus every single day.”
The man’s racist screeds have been denounced by several elected officials, including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
“Students, faculty and the Queens College community shouldn't be subjected to these anti-Semitic and racist rants,” Richards said. “Glad to hear law enforcement addressed the issue by fining the individual and confiscating his megaphone. This behavior is vile and it won't be tolerated in Queens.”
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, who represents the area where the school is located, said she would “continue to monitor the situation in coordination with Queens College and the police.”
"I was disgusted to learn of the awful incident outside the gates of Queens College this week where a stranger, unaffiliated with Queens College, was yelling anti-Semitic [and] repulsive racist messages over a megaphone,” Meng said. “This kind of language & ideology has no place in Queens nor in the rest of our diverse nation.”
Though neither the NYPD nor the school’s public safety division has been able to prevent the man from returning to spew the racist and antisemitic slurs, Citron says that the Jewish group feels supported by both.
“I feel we have wonderful partners in the college administration and public safety,” Citron said.
“We hope that he's not there tomorrow and the day after and the day after, and that we're able to create a support system for students so that they can navigate campus life like they deserve to,” she added.
