Philadelphia neighborhood group pauses events at park after attack
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The Northern Liberties Neighbors Association has temporarily banned outside groups from hosting events at its community park after witnesses say a woman was attacked there earlier this month.
State of play: The altercation and subsequent ban have alarmed some residents, who are questioning the neighborhood association's handling of the incident.
Driving the news: The altercation occurred before an Oct. 6 show by Bread and Puppet, a renowned anti-war theater group that had already performed there several times, NLNA president Jeff Hornstein tells Axios.
- Police responded to a report of a man with a weapon cutting down art exhibit signs in Liberty Lands Park. He was involved in a "physical altercation" with a woman, police said.
- The show was canceled. Police say no arrests were made, and that the woman left the park before officers arrived.
- Hornstein, who helped break up the altercation, says police interviewed a man for 10-15 minutes before allowing him to leave the park.
Zoom in: Three witnesses identified the attacker as Ari Sliffman, a Philadelphia attorney who worked at the law firm Brown Nimeroff. (His work bio was recently removed, and his employer didn't respond to Axios' request for comment.)
- Sliffman tells Axios he was acting in self-defense when he pushed the woman to the ground after he says she ran toward him aggressively and called him a "Nazi."
- "At least one-third of my family was eliminated by the Nazis," says Sliffman, declining to say whether he still works for the firm.
Sliffman also acknowledges that he shouted that the show's performers were "terrorist supporters" and "just like Hamas" as he attempted to stop someone from filming his outburst, as depicted in footage reviewed by Axios.
What they're saying: Witnesses tell Axios that Sliffman tackled the woman to the ground and had to be pulled off her after she confronted him.
- Kathryn Soll, a 29-year-old Drexel University graduate student who saw the attack, says Sliffman charged at the woman after she told him he was "acting like a Nazi."
- The woman who was attacked contacted the neighborhood association but Hornstein says she didn't seem interested in pursuing criminal charges.
A day after the attack, Sliffman posted a statement online criticizing the neighborhood association for booking a theater group that has been accused of presenting a one-sided view of the Gaza conflict to perform a puppet show.
- Sliffman called the troupe "anti-Israel and antisemitic" and said indoctrinating children is "how Hamas recruits their next soldiers."
Sliffman says he regrets his actions, which he attributed in part to a concussion he says he suffered a day before the event.
- "I apologized to my neighbors, and they're the only people I need to apologize to," he says. "This person was not me."
What we're watching: The neighborhood association plans to hire an attorney and hold several meetings to gather input from residents about a new booking policy that will dictate which groups can rent out the park in the future.
- Some residents who spoke at the meeting believe the park should be an "apolitical space," Hornstein says.
- He says the group will discuss with an attorney the possibility of banning Sliffman from the park.
Rayya El Zein, a neighbor who started a petition demanding the association retract the ban, says NLNA is "caving to the intimidation of one person."
- She fears the new policy is a form of "censorship" that could prevent certain advocacy groups from accessing the park in the future.
Hornstein says the puppet show was canceled because his group was concerned about public safety.
- He called any insinuation the association is involved in censorship "nonsense garbage."
What's next: The NLNA holds its first meeting Nov. 14 at the community center.