Pennsylvania Republican Senate hopeful Dave McCormick shared video Tuesday of a dramatic moment when one of his campaign volunteers was captured by a pro-Palestinian protester on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
McCormick shared a clip from Pittsburgh’s WTAE-TV that showed campaign volunteer Reuben Rochkind, a student at Pitt, being held by the neck by a masked protester.
Rochkind was standing in front of the attacker at the time of the incident, holding up an American flag.
“One of my wonderful volunteers was attacked by pro-Hamas supporters on Pitt’s campus,” McCormick wrote on X. “He is a Jewish student wearing a McCormick hat and proudly waving the American flag.”
The Republican party hopeful added: “This anti-Semitism is disgusting,” as he called out his Democratic rival in a key battleground battle.
Pennsylvania Republican Senate hopeful Dave McMormick shared this footage Tuesday showing one of his campaign volunteers, Pitt student Reuben Rochkind, being grabbed by the neck by a masked pro-Palestinian protester on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
Republican Sen. hopeful Dave McCormick said, “This anti-Semitism is disgusting,” as he called out his opponent, incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, for not doing enough to defend his Jewish voters
“Bob Casey must stand up and defend his Jewish voters,” McCormick said.
On Sunday, anti-Israel protesters set up an encampment on the grounds of Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning, the large Gothic structure at the center of campus.
Rochkind told the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle that he heard about the camp from other Jewish students in a chat group and went to check it out — wearing an American flag and a McCormick for Senate hat.
While standing with his back to the fence separating the encampment from the cathedral grounds, a masked protester grabbed his backpack and then his neck.
“It caught me off guard,” the student told the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. “I definitely didn’t expect this to happen.”
He told the Chronicle that he went to the encampment hoping to strike up a conversation with the protesters and that he thought the American flag was a good accessory.
“I believe that America has many good values, such as freedom of speech and freedom of protest,” Rochkind continued.
GOP Senate hopeful Dave McCormick shared the video of Jewish Pitt student and campaign volunteer Reuben Rochkind wearing a McCormick hat and holding an American flag before he was attacked Sunday
Rochkind was grabbed first by his backpack and then by his neck as he stood just outside the encampment that emerged Sunday on the grounds of the Cathedral of Learning on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
But the student said he was soured by his experience.
“The protesters are out there and in my opinion they are anti-Western and anti-American,” the McCormick volunteer added.
Rochkind told the Chronicle that the attack did not stop him from returning to the encampment on Monday to speak with protesters, although only a professor would engage with him, he said.
He said the encampment is “a hostile environment” for Jewish students at the school.
“It’s right in the middle of campus and hard to avoid,” Rochkind said. ‘It is wise to keep moving and not busy yourself if you want to avoid problems.’
A Pitt spokesperson did not immediately comment on this specific incident, but Pitt communications director Jared Stonesifer told the Chronicle that the university is working with the Pittsburgh Police, Allegheny County Police, Pennsylvania State Police and nearby Carnegie Mellon and Carlow universities to monitor the situation.
On Monday morning, one person, 33-year-old Donald Johnson, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, resisting arrest and obstruction.
He is not affiliated with Pitt. It was unclear whether Johnson was the person who attacked Rochkind.
Incumbent Senator Bob Casey’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com.
After losing a close 2022 Republican Senate primary to Dr. Mehmet Oz — who went on to lose to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman — launched McCormick’s second Senate bid in September.
He received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump in mid-April, ahead of the Pennsylvania primaries.
McCormick’s wife, Dina Powell, was a Trump administration appointee.
After his Republican Party primary, McCormick spoke to DailyMail.com and called the protests “disgraceful.”
“I think these kids are turning around when it comes to clarity about what is right and wrong and what the difference is between right and wrong,” he told DailyMail.com. “I think they’re confused and I think it’s a failure. You clearly see it as a failure of leaders at our universities and across the country to demonstrate moral clarity and leadership in dealing with these circumstances.”
“Frankly, this is where I think Bob Casey has been weak, in the sense that you can’t have it both ways,” he said.
Calling it a failure of leadership and a moral decline, he said it is “a sign of a spiritual decline in the country” that “must be reversed.”
In May, Casey spoke about similar pro-Palestinian protests that had taken over the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
“Protest is a form of expression that we are constitutionally protected and it is a great American tradition to protest,” the Democrat said. according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star. “But at some point, when a protest begins to impact others’ ability to go to class, or in this case with an impending graduation, it begins to violate the rights of others.”
“But at some point it has to end, you can’t just take over a campus indefinitely,” Casey added.
The most recent poll, conducted by Florida Atlantic Universityshowed Casey McCormick leading by 7 percent among likely voters.