2 Harvard grad students to complete anger management after assault during campus protest, DA says
A judge ordered two Harvard University graduate students to complete an anger management program and complete 80 hours of community service in connection with the assault of a student during a protest in 2023, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden's office said.
Elom Tettey-Tamaklo and Ibrahim Bharmal, both 28, must attend an eight-hour class on conflict resolution, Judge Stephen McClenon ordered during a pre-trial diversion decision, Hayden's office said in a statement on Tuesday.
Tettey-Tamaklo and Bharmal were at a pro-Palestinian protest at the Harvard Business School campus on Oct. 18, 2023, the statement read, 11 days after Hamas attacked Israel and war broke out in Gaza.
Yoav Segev, a first-year business school student at the time of the incident, tried to walk through the protest, Hayden's office said. In his impact statement, Segev said he was born in Qatar and is the son of Israeli diplomats.
"Mr. Tettey-Tamaklo and Mr. Bharmal physically assaulted me and restricted my ability to access a campus space that I had every right to... while I was attempting to walk through what is effectively my front lawn as I left my apartment to go take an exam," Segev wrote.
Bharmal wore a yellow security vest and called himself a "marshal," and "[behaved] as though he had the right to decide who could and could not access public campus spaces despite having not been given such authority by the University or law enforcement," Segev described.
The two graduate students covered Segev's head with keffiyehs and shouted at him to "exit" before they surrounded and assaulted him, Hayden's office said. They chanted "shame" and blocked Segev's path.
The incident lasted over five minutes and was captured on video, Segev said.
"There were many people filming the protest that day but to my knowledge I was the only visible Jew and the only individual assaulted or who had their access restricted to a public space by a 'marshal,'" Segev said. "... After they assaulted and traumatized me, they refused to take any responsibility for their actions. They could have reached out to me to apologize. They did just the opposite."
Segev said that Tettey-Tamaklo and Bharmal mischaracterized him as the aggressor and turned their case to the media. But they "believe they were acting in a private security capacity and are above the law, using force to determine who can and cannot be in public spaces — deciding to exclude the visibly Jewish student," Segev said.
McClenon issued his order after hearing a victim impact statement read by Segev, a first-year business school student at the time of the incident.
"After they assaulted and traumatized me, they refused to take any responsibility for their actions. They could have reached out to me to apologize. They did just the opposite. They took their case to the media, slandering me in the process. They publicly declared that they were 'proud of their actions,' failed to cooperate with law enforcement by identifying their fellow assailants, and have failed to show an ounce of remorse or take any accountability whatsoever," Segev said.
"Their assault was not a rash incident at a bar," Segev continued. "Their actions and public commentary afterwards demonstrate that the defendants believe they were acting in a private security capacity and are above the law, using force to determine who can and cannot be in public spaces — deciding to exclude the visibly Jewish student."
He was willing to forgive them, but Segev said that they "traumatized me by making my life miserable through their media campaign."
Segev listed four points on what he wants written from them: to admit that they committed assault toward him, to admit he did nothing wrong before or during the incident, to stop talking about him to the press and to apologize for the assault and their statements to the media.
Every Suffolk County resident "has the right to move freely, the right of free expression, and the right to be free from physical harm," Hayden said in the statement.
A criminal complaint was issued for Tettey-Tamaklo and Bharmal by a Boston Municipal Court Brighton clerk on May 8, 2024.
"Mr. Segev is an entirely innocent victim," Hayden said in his statement. "He did nothing wrong leading up to this incident and nothing wrong during this incident. He had a Constitutional right to walk across the campus of his school without being accosted or assaulted. As such, we were prepared to go to trial to seek accountability from the two defendants and justice for Mr. Segev."
