Wiesel attacked in San Francisco, report says
Apparent anti-Semite drags renowned Holocaust author and Nobel Peace Prize winner out of hotel elevator, tries to force him into room, San Francisco Chronicle reports; police say assailant fled when Wiesel began yelling
Elie Wiesel, the renowned Holocaust author and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was attacked and dragged out of a San Francisco hotel elevator last week, The San Francisco Chronicle has reported on its website.
Citing police officials, the newspaper said Wiesel was possibly assaulted by a Holocaust denier who claims to have stalked him for weeks.
Wiesel, 78, was at the Argent Hotel on February 1 for an interfaith conference when he was confronted around 6:30 p.m. in an elevator by a man insisting that he wanted to interview the author, the report said.
Wiesel said he would do the interview in the lobby of the Third Street hotel, but the man insisted on going to Wiesel's room, said the paper.
Anti-Israel website
The man then stopped the elevator at the sixth floor, dragged Wiesel out and tried to force him into a room on that floor, The Chronicle reported.
"That's when (Wiesel) started yelling," the paper quotes police Sergeant Neville Gittens as saying.
The man fled, and Wiesel, who was not injured, went down to the lobby and called police.
Wiesel decided to leave the conference on "Facing Violence: Justice, Religion and Conflict Resolution," and police escorted him to the airport, the paper said.
On Tuesday, a man identifying himself Eric Hunt and claiming to be the attacker posted an account of the incident on a virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel website, The Chronicle said.
The account matches the description of the attack that police later released, according to the newspaper.
