Protester At New Paltz Accused Of Assaulting State Police Investigator

NEW PALTZ, NY — A New City 20-year-old faces charges after an incident during the pro-Palestine encampment at SUNY New Paltz.

New York State police said they had responded to the protest at the request of college officials on May 2. At 12:13 a.m. May 3, as members of the NYSP began to disperse the crowd, a protester threw a metal Gatorade bottle which struck a New York State Police investigator above his left eye, police said. He was taken to a local hospital where he received several stitches.

On Tuesday, after an investigation, the New York State Police arrested Aiden P. O’Brien. He faces charges of second-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, disorderly conduct and trespass.

O'Brien was arraigned in the Town of Plattekill Court and sent to the Ulster County Jail with cash bail set at $5,000, police said.

The Troop F Bureau of Criminal Investigation requests that anyone who may have observed this crime, or has any other information relating to this crime, contact the New York State Police at 845-344-5300.