Court punishes violent antisemitic attack as victims describe lasting trauma and campus hostility toward Jews”
A US court sentenced 52-year-old Jarrett Bova of Pittsburgh to five years in prison and commitment to a mental health institution for attacking two Jewish students near the University of Pittsburgh.
The victims, Asher Goodwin and Ilan Gordon, were walking to a Hillel event in August 2024 when Bova attacked them with a glass bottle. He identified them as Jewish because they were wearing kippot.
Goodwin suffered a neck laceration, while Gordon sustained a concussion. The indictment included ethnic intimidation and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
At sentencing, Bova expressed remorse, saying he had stopped taking psychiatric medication and was hallucinating and hearing voices at the time of the attack.
Goodwin told the court he still struggles with fear and anxiety, saying the assault turned what should have been a moment of joy and unity into violence. He added that he remains proud of his Jewish identity despite rising antisemitism.
Gordon, who now serves in the IDF, said in a statement read by his father that he is an observant Jew and grandson of Holocaust survivors. He said Bova deliberately targeted visibly Jewish students despite others nearby, and that his injuries required dental surgery and ended his baseball career.
Gordon also criticized the University of Pittsburgh, saying anti-Jewish and anti-Israel rhetoric was allowed to grow unchecked after October 7. The case stands as another warning that campus hatred can quickly turn into real violence against Jews.
