Massachusetts man shot in brawl with pro-Israel crowd – video of another man’s self-immolation emerges

A pro-Israel protester was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and violating the constitutional right to cause personal injury after he shot a bystander who was taunting and attacking the crowd carrying Israeli flags.

Authorities in Newton, Massachusetts – a city about eight miles west of Boston – said the brawl occurred Thursday evening and the man accused in the incident, 47-year-old Scott Hayes, is a legal gun owner.

Supporters have raised well over $100,000 for his defense through a GoFundMe page, saying he is an Iraq war veteran and a non-Jew who “defends the Jewish people and their [sic] Right to self-determination and self-government”.

Violent escalation

A video posted on X by the far-right Daily Wire shows a man across the street from the pro-Israel demonstration shouting: “You are sick. You are sick. You are defending genocide.”

A protester off-screen can be heard shouting back: “You are so stupid.”

BREAKING NEWS: An anti-Israel man was shot in the stomach after charging through traffic to attack a man at a pro-Israel demonstration outside Boston in Newton, Massachusetts.

Footage exclusively from @KassyAkiva: pic.twitter.com/nsGN3MQVAO

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) 13 September 2024

The video then appears to jump to footage of the man running across the street, lunging at a member of the pro-Israel group, and knocking him to the ground. This man was later identified as Hayes.

Two more are then seen attacking the still nameless man from across the street. One stomps on his chest and the other kicks him in the face. The latter is wearing a shirt with the words “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” on the back.

Someone off-screen can be heard saying, “Go away from him.”

It's unclear at what exact moment the gun went off, but before the 55-second video ends, a faint gunshot can be heard.

A second video, also posted by The Daily Wire, shows the immediate aftermath.

Another video shows the man who fired the gun providing medical assistance to the man who attacked him before emergency responders arrived. pic.twitter.com/wMtoowakr9

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) 13 September 2024

In the 47-second clip, it appears as if Hayes is examining the victim's abdomen and applying pressure to the gunshot wound.

Supporters crowded the courtroom at his arraignment on Friday. Many stressed on social media that Hayes had only acted in self-defense.

Extreme act of protest

In Massachusetts, a man set himself on fire in front of the Israeli consulate in Boston on September 11. He was taken to hospital with severe burns, but no further details are known about his condition.

A video revealing his identity appeared on YouTube on Friday, but police have not confirmed his identity.

🚨 The person who allegedly set himself on fire outside the Zionist consulate in Boston on September 11 appeared in this YouTube video: “My name is Matt Nelson and I will be participating in an extreme act of protest. We are all responsible for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.” pic.twitter.com/n6Wzw7qs8i

— Unity of Fields (@unityoffields) 13 September 2024

“My name is Matt Nelson and I am about to participate in an extreme act of protest. We are all responsible for the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” he said in a clip explaining his motive.

“We are slaves to capitalism and the military-industrial complex. Most of us are too apathetic to care. The protest I am about to join is a call for our government to stop providing Israel with the money and weapons it uses to imprison and murder innocent Palestinians. We should pressure Israel to end the genocide in Gaza and support the indictment of Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government by the International Criminal Court,” he said, reading from his script.

“A democracy should serve the will of the people, not the interests of the rich. Take back power. Liberate Palestine.”

Middle East Eye spoke to Zoe, a long-time pro-Palestinian activist who asked us not to reveal her last name or where she lives. She says she was the first to post Nelson's video on X on Friday – a day and a half after his self-immolation. Zoe told MEE she was alerted to the video by a friend of Nelson's.

“We all have to do something now,” she said. “People are literally being massacred. People are burning themselves alive. People are fighting for life and death.”

NBC10, a local news station in Boston, reported that several witnesses ran to Nelson to try to put out the flames.

Since October 7, there have been three known self-immolations in the United States, all in protest against Israel's war on Gaza and American funding of what the United Nations calls “genocide.”

In December 2023, an unnamed woman set herself on fire with a Palestinian flag in front of the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, Georgia.

In February of this year, Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old U.S. Air Force member, set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC. The act was live-streamed on Twitch, and the widely shared video marked a turning point that electrified the movement calling for a ceasefire.