Pro-Palestinian protestors and Jewish worshipers scuffle in West Orange on Nov. 13, 2024. (Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Justice)
The Trump administration is accusing pro-Palestinian groups and several activists of violently disrupting an event at a West Orange synagogue last year in a new civil complaint that offers a starkly different version of events than one proffered by Essex County prosecutors.
The 21-page complaint, filed Monday in federal court, alleges that a “mob” of protestors descended on Congregation Ohr Torah to protest a real estate event and memorial service held there on Nov. 13, 2024, taunted people with antisemitic chants, and assaulted worshippers. Essex prosecutors earlier this year claimed pro-Israel counter-protestors were the aggressors.
Federal officials on Monday said the pro-Palestinian protestors’ actions were intended to interfere with the Congregation Ohr Torah community’s right to freely exercise their religion. They are charging the protestors with violating a law traditionally used to prosecute people who obstruct or threaten abortion clinics.
“The practice of turning a blind eye to these attacks on houses of worship throughout the United States stops now,” Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the U.S. Department of Justice’s civil rights division, told reporters at a press conference.
Spokespeople for the two groups named in the complaint, Party for Socialism and Liberation in New Jersey and Muslims for Palestine in New Jersey, could not be reached to comment.
They were at the West Orange synagogue that night to protest an event promoting the sale of property in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Such events have sparked protests across the region, with critics alleging the settlements are an illegal impediment to peace.
Monday’s complaint alleges event organizer Moshe Glick intended to host the event in his home but moved it to the synagogue when protestors indicated they would gather outside his house. About 50 protestors assembled at an intersection near his home, then marched to the synagogue when they heard the event had been moved, the complaint says.
Protestors broke through a line of police guarding the event, defied officers’ orders to stop, and marched onto the synagogue’s lawn, where worshipers had gathered, according to the complaint. The protestors blew long, plastic horns called vuvuzelas to disrupt the memorial service, the complaint says.
Two of the protestors — one identified as Altaf Sharif and the other called Jane Doe — walked over to Glick, with the woman then “blowing her vuvuzela directly in Glick’s ear as a weapon,” the complaint says. When Glick pushed the instrument away, Sharif blew his own vuvuzela in Glick’s face, then “charged at Glick,” according to the complaint.
Another worshiper named David Silberberg interceded and eventually pepper-sprayed Shariff, the complaint says, leading one of the other protestors to yell, “The Jew is here” while pointing at Silberberg. Sharif then attacked Silberberg, putting him in a neck hold and then flipping him over and drilling Silberberg’s face into the ground, the complaint says.
The two men tussled, and Glick then “hit Sharif on the head with his flashlight,” according to the complaint.
Sharif and three others identified as protestors — Terry Kay, Matt Dragon, and Eric Camins — are listed as defendants, as are two unidentified protestors.
Justice officials are filing the complaint under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or Face Act. The law was signed in 1994 by President Bill Clinton in response to rising violence targeting abortion providers. Republicans have sought to repeal the law, saying the Biden administration used it to target pro-life Americans.
The Justice Department is seeking a court order barring the defendants from coming within 50 feet of the synagogue or Glick’s home, and from protesting within 500 feet of any place of religious worship during services or events.
The filing comes as the Trump administration has sought to crack down on anti-Israel protests. Dhillon said this is the first time the Face Act has been used to civilly prosecute an alleged attack on a house of worship.
The federal complaint comes months after Essex County prosecutors filed charges against Flick and Silberberg, accusing them of attacking Sharif. The Bergen Record reported that witnesses alleged Silberberg had been wearing a ski mask that night and appeared to be with the protestors until he pepper-sprayed Sharif.
Prosecutors are seeking a civil penalty against each defendant of more than $84,000 and statutory damages for each person intimidated or prevented from attending the 2024 religious event.
Michael Bachner, Glick’s attorney, said in a statement that his client has “forcibly argued” to Essex prosecutors that the charges he faces are baseless since his actions were in defense of a third party. The prosecutor’s office dismissed the initial indictment but “maintains the legal right to present the charges to another grand jury,” Bachner said.
“Under no circumstances will Dr. Glick be entering a guilty plea to any charge,” he said. “The complaint brought by the Department of Justice recounts what occurred on that tragic day. We are gratified that finally the people who deserve to be brought to justice will be.”
A spokesman for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
