Elie Wiesel
Photo: Reuters
Man guilty in false imprisonment of Elie Wiesel
San Francisco jury convicts 24-year-old man on misdemeanor charges for pulling Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Peace Prize laureate from hotel elevator in incident Wiesel thought was kidnapping attempt
A San Francisco jury convicted a 24-year-old man on misdemeanor charges on Monday for pulling Elie Wiesel from a hotel elevator in an incident the Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Peace Prize recipient thought was a kidnapping attempt.
Runfola said the jury found Hunt not guilty on felony charges of attempted kidnapping, false imprisonment and stalking. Wiesel was not hurt in the incident.
The jury found Eric Hunt guilty of misdemeanor false imprisonment with a hate crime allegation, battery and elder abuse for yanking the 79-year-old Wiesel from a hotel elevator in February 2007, said defense lawyer John Runfola.
Anti-Semitism?
Associated Press
During court hearing, Eric Hunt turns to Holocaust survivor and apologizes for scaring him
Wiesel, well known for his memoir on the Holocaust, was 15 years old when his Jewish family was deported by the Nazis to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He lost his parents and younger sister in the Holocaust.
Hunt had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after being extradited to San Francisco from a New Jersey mental institution, Runfola said.
"He's been given medication and now he's restored," Runfola said, noting Hunt has a sentencing hearing August 13 and faces up to three years in prison.
Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 for writing and speaking out against violence, repression and racism.
