Alec Popivker returns to harassing CSU’s Palestinian community amid escalating violence in Palestine – The Cauldron

Alec Popivker of Cleveland Heights, who was banned from Cleveland State University’s campus back in February 2023, has returned to harassing Palestinian students on the public sidewalks of the campus district.

Alec Popivker’s vehicle outside of the Student Center. Photo Credit: Marin Williams

On Thursday, Oct. 16, Popivker recorded and posted sparsely-edited videos of CSU students with whom he was talking about Israel and Palestine on the public sidewalk in front of the Student Center. A student in one of the videos can be heard saying, “This guy [Popivker] just called me a terrorist for supporting Palestine!” Popivker responded to the student saying, “Yeah, that’s right.”

This wasn’t the only time he was reported near campus this month. CSU Police received reports of his presence on the same public sidewalk as recently as Tuesday, Oct. 24. In response to those reports, CSU PD sent an officer to the scene to make sure he didn’t end up going beyond the sidewalk and onto campus property.

“If he crosses that line, he will be removed,” Chief of Police for CSU Beverly Pettrey shared with The Cauldron. “Whether that would be by arrest or by giving him a citation for criminal trespass, he will be held accountable for it. And, as a matter of fact, the department is looking into his probation to make sure he’s not violating his probation.”

Over the summer, Popivker was found guilty for unauthorized use of property involved with his theft of the banner of CSU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), formally known as Students for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), in January 2023. He was sentenced to a year and a half of probation, anger management classes and a community orientation program, avoiding jail time.

On Friday, Oct. 17, Popivker also posted screenshots of the Instagram profiles and comments of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian students onto his Facebook. Upon learning this, students expressed feeling unsafe and upset toward CSU administration, though not surprised.

“I just want to say that I’m not surprised,” CSU alumna and Palestinian-American Summer shared. “This man harassed and targeted Palestinian students when I attended CSU and tried to make Palestinian students fearful to speak up and speak out. Since he has been banned, he appears to be finding other ways to try and make Palestinians fearful of speaking up. He knows that our voices are powerful and can make a difference.”

Summer also shared a message for fellow Palestinians who may feel scared by the behavior of people like Popivker.

“To everyone, just know that your voice is powerful and makes an impact, otherwise, people wouldn’t be working so hard to try and silence us,” she said. “Our voices as Palestinians are vital. Just as those before us fought, we will continue to fight for a better today and even better tomorrow. We are the voice of the oppressed and together we will drown out the oppressor.”

Summer added that she believes CSU administration, though made an attempt, waited too long to address the issues that arose from Popivker’s presence on campus last year, given his recent return to the campus district.

“Students have been making CSU staff aware for a while now about his presence and its negative impact on campus. It took until the news spread outside the realm of Cleveland State’s bubble for them to begin to even discuss the issue with students,” said Summer. “I believe that the situation went way too far before CSU took action, which is upsetting considering how unsafe Palestinian and Muslim students felt on campus.”

CSU alumna and former President of CSU SJP Haneen Hamideh shared very similar thoughts on Popivker’s behavior.

“I think it’s disappointing, but I’m not surprised,” began Hamideh. “He has been harassing students since the beginning of my college career. Cleveland State only intervened when it got to the point of theft and a protective order filed against him. Otherwise, the university did not do a great job protecting its students.”

Popivker’s recent return has provoked concern from Palestinian students, particularly in light of the escalating violence in Palestine and Israel.

On Saturday, Oct. 7, Hamas, military organization and governing body of the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, launched an attack in Israel that killed over 1,000 Israelis. Vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price,” Israel has since continually launched a series of strikes on Gaza that has killed over 6,500 Palestinians. Children have been the primary victims.

While Hamas’ attack has often been labeled as “unprecedented” or “a surprise,” many Palestinians have rejected these labels, saying that the attack was a response to “the cruel and brutal oppression and illegal occupation that the Palestinians have been enduring for decades from the Israeli apartheid state.”

Pettrey assured that while she cannot share her own opinion, she and CSU PD care about the safety of students, as well as their “perception of safety.”

“I do want to express my support for the students that feel threatened by him [Popivker],” began Pettrey. “And to let the students know that we will do everything in our power to make sure he doesn’t step foot on campus.”

Pettrey shared more information on the work of the department leading up to Popivker’s eventual permanent ban from campus grounds.

“We worked really hard on this case to get him removed from campus,” said Pettrey. “We weren’t able to remove him from campus for him just coming in and exercising his First Amendment right, there was not much we could do, really. The university couldn’t do much, it’s a state university.”

Last year, Popivker’s regular presence in CSU’s courtyard provoked massive student concern over his anti-Palestinian demonstrations and hate speech. His speech included comparing Palestinians to Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, which made Palestinian and Muslim students, as well as students outside of those communities, reportedly feel unsafe.

He was even served a protection order by a CSU student on grounds of stalking, which eventually got him temporarily banned from campus by the university. However, he violated this ban and returned to campus repeatedly until CSU PD arrested him on Wednesday, Jan. 25. His trial and guilty sentence would come later in the summer.

Popivker wasn’t permanently banned from campus grounds until February, when CSU granted him a persona non grata (PNG) status after a hearing. The PNG status was on grounds of his theft of the Palestinian organization’s banner. His antagonization of students was also addressed at the hearing by Pettrey.

“When we [CSU PD] were able to tie him to stealing that flag, and he was convicted of that crime, that was enough for us to be able to take that then to the university,” said Pettrey. “They agreed that this person is detrimental to our campus community, and they removed him.

Ultimately, the job of CSU PD, Pettry shared, is “to keep the peace,” through both protecting people’s freedom of speech and the safety of all parties, including CSU students.

The Cauldron reached out to the university for comment from President Bloomberg, but was referred to CSU PD.