Daily Wire Reporter Harassed at Anti-Israel Protest on October 7 Anniversary

Clear Facts

• Daily Wire reporter Gideon Askowitz was threatened and verbally assaulted while covering an anti-Israel demonstration in New York City on the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack.
• Protesters identified Askowitz as a Daily Wire reporter and encouraged physical violence against him, with one woman explicitly urging a man to “beat his ass.”
• Demonstrations across New York City featured chants supporting the intifada and calls for divestment from Israel, while one protester defended Hamas’s October 7 attack as a military tactic.

A Daily Wire reporter faced open hostility and calls for violence while covering an anti-Israel demonstration in New York City on the third anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Gideon Askowitz was reporting from the protest when demonstrators recognized his affiliation and began targeting him. One woman was recorded urging a nearby man to assault the journalist.

“Beat his ass for me”

“Wanna beat his ass for me?” the woman asked in video captured by Askowitz.

“Beat his ass for me”

Protestor attempts to have me assaulted for filming for Daily Wire https://t.co/76fAkjPwX3

— Gideon Askowitz (@Gideon_Askowitz) October 7, 2026

“Yeah for free,” he responded.

“Yeah, beat his ass. You won’t get in trouble, boy,” the woman continued.

The crowd escalated their rhetoric after identifying Askowitz as working for the Daily Wire. Several protesters referred to him as “right-wing” and hurled slurs, including “white piece of sh*t” and “KKK piece of sh*t.”

“Oh, good, this white piece of sh*t,” another responded, before calling Askowitz a “KKK piece of sh*t.” Another protester referred to Askowitz as part of “Ben Shapiro’s” channel.

The confrontation also involved protesters touching Askowitz’s press credentials despite his objections.

“I ask that you don’t touch—” Askowitz began.

“I’m not touching you, I’m touching that,” the protester responded.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s a part of my person,” Askowitz replied.

“No it’s not,” the protester said. “The card! We’re touching the card.”

Askowitz described the incident as relatively mild compared to previous encounters, though the attempt to incite assault was unmistakable.

More than one hundred demonstrators gathered at Washington Square Park as part of NYU’s “Rage Week,” chanting “Long live the intifada” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Similar rallies took place at Columbia University, where speakers defended Hamas’s October 7 attack and urged continued resistance.

“That, to me, is not resistance. That’s a war crime,” Cojab said. “Rape is not resistance.”

The October 7 attacks killed nearly 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages being taken.

Roughly 125 additional protesters gathered outside New York City Hall to accuse Mayor Zohran Mamdani of failing to advance the Palestinian movement’s agenda.

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