Phila. Prosecutors drop charges against two people arrested for hostility to Penn camp

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's office has dropped charges against two people arrested at the Gaza Solidarity Camp in April for angering pro-Palestinian protesters.

Charges against a person arrested April 28 for attending a Seder in the Streets event on College Green with a knife and a holster were dismissed in August after several hearings over the summer. The other was arrested by the Penn Department of Public Safety on May 1 for spraying an unknown odorous substance on signs, food and tents at the camp, and the charge was dismissed shortly thereafter.

Requests for comment were directed to Krasner's office and Penn.

The former individual was identified by his wife Maddie Cohen in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer as Yosef Cohen, a 70-year-old man. Maddie Cohen said her husband “didn’t mean any harm.”

“He was just trying to show the other side by walking around,” Maddie Cohen said at the time. “It wasn’t his intention to hurt anyone.”

Yosef Cohen, a pro-Israel protester, was arrested with a knife holster after entering the Seder event and moving through the crowd toward the speakers leading the event. At the time, police said Yosef Cohen had “violated the Civil Code” and would receive a summons. After being stopped by police, he was led away from the event in handcuffs.

The camp organizers released a statement after the incident, claiming that “the government’s concern [was] one-sided” and accused Penn of being “ambivalent when violence is directed against her.” [them].”

According to a publicly available court document, Yosef Cohen was charged with possession of “cutting weapons” and had several summary trials over the summer. The charges were dropped and the case was dismissed on August 9.

A second pro-Israel individual entered the camp on May 1 and sprayed an unknown substance on signs and items on College Green before being handcuffed and detained for evaluation by DPS officers.

At the time, a university spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian that the person “allegedly sprayed a sulfur-based 'stink spray' around the camp” and was being charged with “disorderly conduct and harassment.”

Krasner's office dropped charges against the individual and there are currently no court records related to the incident.

Penn Police, with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department, searched the Gaza Solidarity Camp and dismantled it on May 10 after 16 days. The university moved several end-of-year ceremonies that were originally scheduled to take place on College Green and implemented increased security measures over the summer following its dissolution.

Some participants in the encampment and related demonstrations — including an attempted occupation of Fisher-Bennett Hall on May 17 — were also arrested and charged by Krasner's office, although many only received notices of code violations or have had their charges since dropped. During Penn's search of the camp on May 10, 33 people were arrested, including at least nine students, and 19 people – seven of whom were Penn students – were arrested during the attempted occupation.