Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) officers arrested a man at about 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon after he entered the Granoff Family Hillel Center and harassed a number of people.
According to sophomore Anya Gelernt, who was one of four students in the building at the time, the man entered and asked the students present if there were any boys in the building. He then shouted obscenities and verbally harassed a male student.
"He went up to him and asked him how many of the girls in the room he had had sex with," Gelernt said.
Gelernt also reported that the man, whom TUPD public records identified as 65-year-old Thomas Madden of Andover, Mass., loudly made several offensive remarks about Jewish people, University President Lawrence Bacow and his wife, Adele.
"The guy was really angry and yelling… pretty anti-Semitic stuff," she added.
A female student working at the center's front desk asked Madden to leave, and when he refused, she called TUPD. An officer who was stationed nearby responded and attempted to apprehend Madden, who then became violent. The officer called for backup and four more TUPD officers responded and helped in the arrest.
According to the TUPD public crime log, TUPD transported Madden to the Medford police station and charged him with aggravated assault, disorderly conduct and trespassing.
The female student who had been working at the desk reported that the man's car was towed from Curtis Street by TUPD following the arrest. Madden was described as a heavyset white male under six feet tall with white hair.
Madden's arraignment was held on Monday, according to a spokesperson at the Middlesex district attorney's (DA) office. She confirmed that he was charged with disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and trespassing.
At the hearing, a judge ordered Madden to stay away from the Hillel Center and was released on personal recognizance, a term which occurs when a defendant promises to return to court at a later established date. Madden promised to appear again in court next month to answer the charges, according to the DA's spokesperson.
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, Tufts Hillel's executive director, said the center plans to augment its security in response to the incident.
"We are approaching this seriously and have worked closely with the Tufts Police to increase our security procedures for the Hillel Center," he said in an e-mail.
