A 20-year-old man was charged with disturbing the peace after video confirmed antisemitic epithets being hurled at Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy outdoors Mississippi State University, police stated Tuesday.
The Starkville Police Department stated video of the confrontation additionally confirmed the suspect throwing cash.
Police said {that a} hate crime enhancement was beneath review.
“The State of Mississippi allows courts to impose enhanced penalties if a violation meets the criteria for bias-motivated or discriminatory reasons,” the division stated in an announcement. “This remains under investigation.”
Police stated Patrick McClintock was charged, processed and launched on Monday. It wasn’t clear Tuesday night time if he had authorized illustration for the case. Attempts to achieve him at a telephone quantity listed for his title had been unsuccessful.
Portnoy, who’s Jewish, was in Starkville, Mississippi, on Friday for a Mississippi State soccer recreation and was producing a college-town pizza review when a person approached, video posted to Portnoy’s Instagram account exhibits.
“Hey, f— the Jews. F— you, Dave Portnoy,” the person could be heard shouting within the video. “F— you. Get out of Starkville.”
The video additionally exhibits the person making an attempt to confront Portnoy outdoors Boardtown Pizza & Pints in Starkville, a metropolis of 25,000 about 140 miles west of Birmingham, Alabama. The man was blocked by one other man and compelled to again up whereas being shouted down by apologetic patrons of the restaurant, the video exhibits.
“There’s a–holes everywhere. What are you going to do?” Portnoy stated after the confrontation, the video exhibits.
Mississippi State spokesperson Sid Salter stated McClintock was a scholar on the faculty however voluntarily withdrew inside hours of police asserting Monday that they’d issued an arrest warrant.
“What happened on video didn’t reflect the culture and values of the university,” Salter stated.
In a portion of the Instagram video during which he supplied commentary on the encounter, Portnoy stated he blames on-line rhetoric for the rise in antisemitic incidents. He stated he believes McClintock “hates” his life and wishes one thing in charge. “And what’s an easy answer? Oh, it’s the Jews’ fault,” Portnoy stated.
The nonprofit Endjewhatred stated McClintock ought to face hate crime fees. “The same level of hatred seen against any other minority community would result in an immediate hate crime charge, but instead Patrick was charged with ‘disturbing the peace,'” it said on its Facebook Page.
The American Jewish Committee stated the incident displays “the broader rise in antisemitism across America today.”
Mississippi would not have a selected hate crime regulation however permits prosecutors so as to add a hate-crime enhancement after they imagine a criminal offense was motivated by racial, non secular or ethnic hatred. It can be utilized to extend sentencing upon profitable prosecution.
Portnoy, 48, has been vital of campus protests in opposition to Israel and its actions in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist assault on Israel.
He has additionally been embroiled in controversies involving antisemitism previously.
In May, two servers at Barstool Sansom Street in Philadelphia delivered a sign bearing antisemitic language to a crowded desk, Portnoy stated on the time, after video exhibiting the incident was posted to social media. He stated he believed that incident was extra sensible joke than hate, however he terminated the servers.
Christiana Corporon, Jean Lee and Josh Cradduck contributed.