Doctor Among 3 Accused Of Keying 16 Pro-Palestine Protesters' Cars

An Arizona doctor and his wife, a onetime Republican activist, were among three arrested on Friday for allegedly scratching derogatory phrases onto 16 cars that belonged to demonstrators who attended a pro-Palestine protest in January.

Matthew Karlovsky and his wife, Lisa Karlovsky, were charged with criminal damage for keying the cars, alongside Bryan Long, according to apress release by the Phoenix Police Department.

The incident took place on Jan. 28 at a pro-Palestinian protest held near a synagogue, where a fundraising event for the Anti-Defamation League — hosted by its CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt — was taking place.

Court filings cited by AZ Family alleged that surveillance footage showed Matthew Karlovsky acting as “a lookout” and as he, his wife and Long drove to the protest, where the trio had “intent to damage” protesters’ vehicles, according to the outlet.

According to a joint statement made by protest organizers and local Jewish and Palestinian community members, the demonstrators had gathered in front of the synagogue to “raise awareness of Greenblatt’s visit to Phoenix and to discredit his genocidal message.”

Sophie Levitt, a co-founder of Bafrayung Itst (Liberation Now), a Phoenix-based Jewish organization,told AZ Family the protest itself was peaceful, but tensions rose after those who attended the ADL’s event started walking out of the synagogue.

“They began yelling and disrupting and making obscene gestures, saying inappropriate things,” Levitt said.

Organizers said in their joint statement that there was heavy police presence during and after the protest and officers were seen “high-fiving, taking photos with, and fist bumping attendees of the Greenblatt event.”

In an email to HuffPost on Saturday,