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By Nathan Cooper
NEWTONVILLE – A demonstrator at a pro-Israel rally last Thursday was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for using deadly force in a physical altercation with a pro-Palestinian man.
Passer-by and Jewish Newton resident Caleb Gannon had been shouting angrily at the protesters for supporting Israel’s war in Gaza when he charged across the street, tackling demonstrator Scott Hayes. As the two men wrestled on the sidewalk and several other pro-Israel protesters intervened, Hayes took out his gun and shot Gannon. Gannon was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries but is expected to survive, and Newton police have since lodged a charge of assault and battery against him.
The case is quickly becoming the cause-célèbre of right-wing media, and the GoFundMe for Hayes’ case has raised almost $250,000 as of the publishing of this article. Hayes has pleaded not guilty.
Hayes’ Case
Hayes’ lawyer has argued that his use of force was for self-defense, per the Boston Globe. While dozens of (mostly Republican-dominated) states have so-called “stand your ground” laws which allow gun owners a very broad definition of self-defense, Massachusetts outlines a “duty to retreat” that states use of deadly force for self-defense in public is only legal when used to prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury, the latter defined as permanent disfigurement or loss or impairment of a bodily function.
Further complicating Hayes’ defense is his long history of Islamophobic internet commentary, harassment of pro-Palestine protesters, and even threats of violence. Working Mass spoke with three activists, who asked to remain anonymous, about the harassment they have faced from Hayes and his allies.
A Framingham resident, Army veteran, and Trump supporter, Hayes is a fixture of pro-Israel provocateur culture, traveling across Massachusetts and New England. According to several interviewees, Hayes regularly attempts to catch pro-Palestine protesters when they are separated from rally crowds to intimidate them physically and with menacing and often sexist or homophobic language. Though not himself Jewish, Hayes describes Jewish ceasefire protesters as “self-hating Jews,” an Antisemitic trope employed by the right against Palestinian activists.
Online, Hayes doxxes pro-Palestinian and pro-ceasefire protesters by posting their faces and full names, cheers violence against pro-Palestine protesters, and has called Palestinians “not human”. Hayes also displayed a wider prejudice against Muslims; Hayes asserted online that the religion “condones rape,” and he has spread Islamophobic misinformation such as the conspiracy theory that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar married her brother.
Based on our interviews, Hayes has deliberately targeted people he perceives to be women or queer with sexist and homophobic language, and describing how they would be raped if they went to Gaza. Interviewees also reported Hayes making threats of violence, and emphasized he was not the only pro-Israel provocateur making these insinuations, as he was often supported by members of his organization, God Bless America and Israel.
But perhaps most compromising for his case is a May 19th tweet of a SIG Sauer pistol captioned “Hey Jew haters. Bring it.”
Media Bias
While most media outlets focused on the incident itself, refraining from investigating the motives of each side, not all went with this tack. The Boston Herald’s Lance Reynolds approvingly highlighted Hayes’ military service and cited statements from the Lawfare Project and Anti-Defamation League describing Hayes’ case as a “violation of his civil rights” and questioning its legitimacy.
The Lawfare Project’s founder, Brooke Goldstein, is a long-time pro-Israel activist and the organization signed onto a letter last November calling for pro-Palestine campus activists to be expelled.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has well-documented connections to Israel and American pro-Israel lobbies. The organization facilitates training and information-sharing between US and Israeli police in Israel and at international conferences, a program known as the “Deadly Exchange” among pro-Palestine and criminal justice activists.
The ADL also lobbies for the benign-sounding “International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance” definition of Antisemitism, which defines as Antisemitic statements which are critical of the Israeli state. Though originally created for researchers in a specific era and context studying racism, xenophobia, and Antisemitism, its use outside of that context has been denounced and disavowed by the very man who drafted it. The definition recently sparked controversy when Governor Maura Healey implicitly included it in her budget proposal in July.
Nathan Cooper is a Boston DSA member and healthcare worker.
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