On April 29, 2025, during Israel's war against Hamas, mycentraljersey.com reported that Tassone was arrested along with three other anti-Israel agitators and charged with rioting after participating in an anti-Israel rally outside Hillel on the Rutgers campus.
Hillel International is a Jewish campus organization serving college students at 850 universities worldwide.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas murdered approximately 1,200 Israelis, kidnapped 251 and wounded thousands. War crimes included various systematic sexual crimes like gang rape and genital mutilation. Men and women were violated, even after being murdered. Victims who survived that day, including hostages, endured forms of humiliation and torture.
Gazans working in the targeted Israeli villages provided intelligence to Hamas on which families to kill and torture, including long-time employers. Many Palestinian civilians joined in and celebrated the attacks. Hamas livestreamed their crimes on social media, including to victims’ accounts for families to see. To learn more, see the Canary Mission page on Hamas.
The rally, which was titled: "GOTT OFF RUTGERS CAMPUS!" was called to protest a speech by Congressman Josh Gottheimer at Hillel. The event flyer claimed that "Rep. Gottheimer promotes Israel during a genocide!"
The protest was endorsed by the anti-Israel campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which had been suspended by Rutgers since July 2024.
After police officers asked protesters to "clear the public sidewalk," Tassone and the other anti-Israel agitators reportedly breached a police protest line.
Police then declared the protest to be unlawful. One arrested agitator named Thomas Whitehead was charged with "aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, riot, and resisting arrest."
After being released from jail, Tassone was reportedly [slide 2] suspended by the university and "barred from attending classes or visiting campus."
