A man accused of assault was given probation on Tuesday after police reported he threatened protesters with an axe during a pro-Palestine rally in Harvard Square last August.
Matthew C. Freeman, 40, from Billerica, Mass., must undergo a mental health evaluation and attend a class about Islam as part of his plea deal that keeps him out of jail. His probation also forbids him from owning guns or other dangerous weapons.
Freeman faced charges of assault with a dangerous weapon and violating civil rights after being caught on camera confronting protesters at the event last summer.
The police report states Freeman drove his car towards nearly 200 demonstrators gathered on Massachusetts Avenue near the heart of Harvard Square, stopped next to two protesters, opened his car door, and later threatened to kill them with an axe.
A video shared by the Boston chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement on Instagram shortly after the protest shows Freeman calling protesters “Nazis” while yelling homophobic insults from inside his vehicle.
At that time, Cambridge police said they didn’t see an axe themselves but relied on witness accounts. The report identifies one victim named Fawaz Abusharkh.
In a victim impact statement, Abusharkh said Freeman struck him with the car door and threatened to kill him.
“I have been involved in protests for decades, but I have never been threatened by someone with an axe,” Abusharkh wrote. “It was shocking and surreal.”
Freeman was arraigned in Cambridge District Court in September and pleaded not guilty to both charges according to court papers. He was originally set for a jury trial but later took a plea deal before sentencing, per documents.
James M. Peterson, Freeman’s attorney, chose not to comment about the sentence.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which represented Abusharkh as a Muslim civil rights group, called the sentence too light.
“Given the level of threatened violence, we advocated for the more serious punishment sought by the Middlesex District Attorney, a suspended sentence with the possibility of jail time,” CAIR legal director Barbra J. Dougan said in a Friday statement. She added they were still “pleased that this matter has been resolved.”
Abusharkh expressed disappointment over the ruling in that release too, calling it “a slap on the wrist.”
The Middlesex District Attorney’s office didn’t reply to requests for comment. Freeman’s probation officially started Tuesday.
-Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Shawn Boehmer.
-Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at [email protected].
