Late last night, we talked about the case of Scott Hayes. Hayes is a pro-Israel protester who allegedly shot a pro-Hamass individual, that is now identified by Kassy Akiva as Caleb Gannon.
The man who attacked Scott Hayes has been named as Caleb Gannon. pic.twitter.com/5S7mAU6o2C
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
Also, reportedly, a young elf named Link has set out on a quest to stop Mr. Gannon.
(Sorry, we couldn’t resist, even if Ganon in the Legend of Zelda villain is spelled differently.)
Jokes aside, if you go to the prior post, barring extremely surprising evidence we are not aware of, you can see video establishing a pretty clear sequence of events. Gannon argued with the pro-Israel protesters, and then crossed the street, in traffic, in order to tackle Hayes. A struggle ensued, with two other people (who appeared to be on the pro-Israel side) helping Hayes. But, in the struggle, Hayes allegedly pulled out at a gun and shot Gannon. We say ‘allegedly’ because for all we know, he might deny he pulled out the gun or that he intentionally pulled the trigger and we want to avoid prejudicing him in the eyes of any potential juror.
We also added our legal analysis in that prior post which said (barring very surprising information that is not in the video) that:
1) Gannon started the physical confrontation by tackling Hayes,
2) Hayes definitely had a right to defend himself but there is a question of whether or not he used excessive force,
3) Hayes was to be charged with violating Gannon’s constitutional rights—that is he allegedly shot Gannon because he wanted to silence him,
4) that charge is patently ridiculous,
5) Gannon should be charged with assault, regardless of whether Hayes used excessive force in self-defense, and
7) it would make more sense to charge Gannon, not Hayes, with a constitutional violation.
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So, Hayes was arraigned today—meaning he was formally informed of the charges and entered a plea—and Kassy Akiva has the details:
UPDATE:
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
They just arraigned Scott Hayes and are releasing him on a $5,000 bond.
They only charged him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. They did not read the previous charge mentioned.
An application for a criminal complaint on the anti-Israel guy has been…
The cut off text reads:
An application for a criminal complaint on the anti-Israel guy has been taken out.
More on that in a moment.
Also, this author will say that in our experience, that is a very low bail. For instance, Kyle Rittenhouse was given $2 million bail. George Zimmerman had a bail set at $150,000 initially, and later when it was alleged he was hiding assets, the judge raised it to $1 million. We haven’t practiced in Massachusetts, but as a rule judges can be persuaded to lower bail for a number of factors, including the strength of the defense, as well as other factors like Hayes’ age and veteran status. So, this low bail might in part reflect on the judge knowing that the case is weak, or it might reflect a generally lax attitude about bail in Massachusetts in general compared to Wisconsin in the Rittenhouse case and Florida in the Zimmerman case.
More on the arraignment:
“He looked terrible but he stood tall. They treated him like a criminal and kept referring to the ‘alleged victim,” a source there told me.
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
They are also giving him a GPS and a curfew so he can work.
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
We are waiting to find out whether or not the constitutional violation charges were dropped, but they absolutely should be and we stand by our analysis that even filing the charges momentarily indicates an extreme bias against Hayes. He was physically attacked. Occam’s razor says that the reason why he shot Gannon was because he was attacked. Even if Hayes used excessive force—and we’re not saying he did—that doesn’t change that his motivation was almost certainly the fact he was attacked.
And to respond to what someone said on Twitter/X, this doesn’t mean we are accusing authorities of being antisemitic. First off, it is widely reported that Hayes isn’t even Jewish:
Man accused of shooting man who disrupted pro-Israel rally was acting in self defense, attorney says @BethWBZ reports https://t.co/26JbrXQLp6
— WBZ | CBS News Boston (@wbz) September 13, 2024
He’s just one of millions of Americans who aren’t Jewish but support Israel, especially in the current war. So, while we think there is bias, it looks more like political bias against Hayes because he supports Israel.
Still, if the authorities are assuming Hayes is Jewish, perhaps under a mistaken belief that only a Jew would be at that demonstration, and then if they discriminate against him based on that mistaken belief, that would be antisemitism. But presently there is no evidence they did that. So right now the evidence only points toward a viewpoint bias. And viewpoint bias is illegal when it comes to government officials as a violation of freedom of expression found in the First Amendment.
Ms. Akiva also links to her own reporting on today’s arraignment:
UPDATE: Scott Hayes was arraigned and will be released on a $5,000 bail. He will have a GPS ankle monitor and a curfew.
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
This comes after he shot a man with a pro-Palestinian pin who charged through traffic and tackled him in Newton, Massachusetts.https://t.co/b70hJDfCTU
One highlight in her piece is where it suggests that Gannon might be facing charges for attempting to take over Hyrule and kidnapping the Princess Zelda for attacking Hayes in the first place:
Prosecutors said they requested a criminal complaint to be filed against the man who tackled Hayes, which is currently pending in the clerk’s office.
This reporting doesn’t tell us what the charges will be, but the CBS article we linked to above does fill in some more detail on that point, when it says:
Gannon was shot in the stomach and taken to the hospital, where he is expected to be OK. Police said assault and battery charges are pending against him.
For the record, even if Gannon is bedridden right now, it isn’t difficult for the courts to effectively come to him. Again, we don’t know the practice in Massachusetts, but we have seen judges come to an alleged criminal’s beside in the hospital, with lawyers and court staff, and run a hearing right there.
The CBS article also quotes a fellow pro-Israel protester as praising him:
Dozens of people were there in court to support him.
‘I was shocked to see him led away in handcuffs, that should not have happened,’ said David Sherman. ‘And I'm shocked to hear that the assaulter is not under arrest.’ …
‘We were assaulted and we were protected by the accused,’ said Sherman outside court on Friday.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Sherman ends up being a star witness, if it actually goes to trial.
We are also seeing a lot of bizarre misrepresentations of what happened despite the fact we have video:
According to the Boston Globe, a “passerby confronted” Scott Hayes and “a tussle ensued.”
— Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) September 13, 2024
Imagine how much these scumbags would lie if we DIDN’T have videotape.
pic.twitter.com/WaEkjqCsMj
The Boston Globe is complete trash.
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
The truth: The man charged across a street through traffic and tackled a man to the ground. Then the attacker was shot. pic.twitter.com/B1voIkmOVB
Bless community notes https://t.co/SUmk2wAdCD
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
Presently, the post she is quoting has a Community Note that reads:
The man did not cross the street and confront the protesters only to be shot. He charged across the street and tackled the man from behind and was then shot.
See video evidence
The Community Note cites the same video evidence you have been seeing since last night. Mr. Cooper states in his profile that he is a reporter for ‘7News in Boston.’
He also has footage of Hayes leaving the courthouse:
No comment from Scott Hayes after posting $5K bail in Newton…released with a GPS ankle bracelet, a curfew imposed by the judge & an order to stay out of Newton and not to possess any weapons until his case has been resolved…his attorneys say the shooting was self defense #7News pic.twitter.com/pxLvISPr24
— Steve Cooper (@scooperon7) September 13, 2024
Of course, Hayes was probably told by his lawyer not to say anything and that is probably good advice.
Finally, Ms. Akiva alleges that she has located Gannon’s Twitter/X feed:
Caleb Gannon, the man who tackled Scott Hayes and was shot, has a X history of calling for the destruction of America and says he does not condemn Hamas. pic.twitter.com/t11GcY5eFv
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
Quite an interesting tweet from Caleb Gannon, the man who tackled Scott Hayes and was shot. pic.twitter.com/5X1Rd4N6ar
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
Caleb Gannon, the man who tackled Scott Hayes and was shot, retweeted a post saying Zionists should feel "unsafe everywhere." pic.twitter.com/boQ7OM3BOH
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 13, 2024
Of course, with that last one we should point out that a repost does not automatically translate into an endorsement. Often when someone says something stupid and/or racist on Twitter/X, we repost as if to say to our followers ‘get a load of this person.’ But that's not what our gut says, here.
On the other hand, we took a look at his feed and it’s well … special. In particular he wants to see America destroyed:
You are responsible for allowing all of it to continue. You, and every single other American politician must resign in disgrace and exile yourselves away forever, since there will be no room for you here in Post-America.
— Caleb *hiccup* Gannon 🇵🇸 (@cebegannon) September 12, 2024
Every US politician needs to be removed from power, and tried. They do not represent their constituency, as they have all been purchased by private interests. They serve these interests against the will of the people, and thus in defiance of their position as elected officials.
— Caleb *hiccup* Gannon 🇵🇸 (@cebegannon) September 11, 2024
America actually cannot do better than this. It's precisely why America needs to end.
— Caleb *hiccup* Gannon 🇵🇸 (@cebegannon) September 11, 2024
I’m so ready for the post-American world.
— Caleb *hiccup* Gannon 🇵🇸 (@cebegannon) September 10, 2024
And, of course, he hates Israel and looks forward to the genocide:
From river to sea, Palestine will be free. Israel will be abolished.
— Caleb *hiccup* Gannon 🇵🇸 (@cebegannon) February 12, 2024
None of this bears directly on whether or not Hayes used excessive force on him. Hayes probably had no idea what he had written. But we do find it interesting and reporting on what people say on social media is kind of our thing.
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