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EAST LANSING (WWJ) – A Michigan State University student is recovering after he was beaten up and had his mouth stapled shut during what investigators are categorizing as a brutal hate crime.
Zachary Tennen, a 19-year-old sophomore in MSU’s journalism program, said he was at a house party on the 500 block of Spartan Avenue early Sunday morning when two men approached him and asked if he was Jewish. When he responded “Yes,” the two men raised their arms into a Nazi salute and said “Heil Hitler” before knocking him unconscious, according to Tennen’s mother, Tina.
About 20 people reportedly watched as the men proceeded to staple Zachary Tennen’s mouth shut at the lips and gums. His jaw was broken in two places during the attack.
“They knocked me down really hard … and I assumed someone would help me,” Zachary Tennen said in a statement. “But after some guys at the house basically kicked me out, I had to get a cab.”
Tina Tennen told the Detroit Free Press her son took a cab to Sparrow Hospital in East Lansing for initial treatment, but underwent surgery in metro Detroit Monday night to have his jaw wired shut. He is now recovering at his home in Franklin.
“It almost seemed like they tried to kill me, and to think about that in my brain, physically — it isn’t very pleasant,” Zachary Tennen told campus newspaper The State News.
Police say attack on Mich. student not hate crime
By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER | Associated Press – 2 hrs 45 mins ago
DETROIT (AP) — Police say an attack on a Michigan State University student at an off-campus party is not being investigated as a hate crime.
Zach Tennen says he was at a party when two men asked if he was Jewish, and when he responded “yes,” punched him in the face. Tennen says his attackers also stapled his mouth.
The 19-year-old sophomore from the Detroit suburb of Franklin was recovering Tuesday from jaw surgery. He says the assault took place early Sunday at an off-campus party.
East Lansing police said in a statement Tuesday that the assault was “not likely a hate crime.”
The statement also says police have identified a potential suspect.
Police did not return calls Tuesday from The Associated Press asking for more details on the attack.
Damn rights, it’s a hate crime and don’t let anyone tell you different.
Dispicable act by two thugs, big brave men, taking on one boy its a hate crime but the police dont want to inflate the figures
It’s a hate crime.
It’s an anti-Semitic hate crime.
It’s an anti-Jewish hate crime.