Police violently arrest Nova survivor with PTSD over scooter incident

• Published date: 21 April 2024
• Author: ORI SELA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

An attempted arrest of scooter riders who were riding without a helmet on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening turned into a confrontation between the police officer and one of the riders - Ron Levit, 29 years old from Jaffa - who claimed to be post-traumatic after surviving the Nova festival massacre

In the footage obtained by Walla, Levit was seen shouting at the policeman: "I was in Nova, my friends were murdered."

"We were riding a scooter, both of us without a helmet, and the policeman asked us to stop. I came to get off the bike path towards the sidewalk, and he thought we were going to run away or run him over, as he said," Levit said in a conversation with Walla and shared: "When I was attacked, like how he attacked me, I get all the post-trauma, it's not the first time."

Levit continued: "He asked me to identify myself; I told him that I lost all my things at the Nova festival. I told him to write down my number, but he insisted. I started to leave; I didn't understand what he wanted. I told him that I didn't want to run away or anything. He strangled me and beat me."

"In Nova, I ran away for five hours while they were shooting at me - since then, I haven't really recovered," Levit shared with Walla, "During the incident, I wanted to show the policeman the psychiatrist's documents. Even if I committed a traffic violation, there's no reason for him to treat me like that. I've been to many demonstrations in my life…but this time it's different - there's no reason for the policeman to act like that. He behaved in a scary, inhuman way. If he's acting like that, he shouldn't be a policeman," Levit added.

In the footage, Levit was seen being pushed by the policeman who tries to handcuff him and demands: "Give me your hands." Levit replies: "For what?" followed by the policeman telling him that he refuses to be arrested. The argument at this point became heated, with Levit raising his voice and shouting: "I don't refuse. Publicly, I don't refuse anything. What do you want from me? Move from me. What do you want? I'm post-traumatic. I was in Nova, what do you want? Documents from a psychiatrist? Take a document from a psychiatrist. Move away from me. You maniac, my friends were murdered."

Levit's friend also intervened and turned to the policeman: "He saw his friends...