Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Dave Portnoy in 2019
(JNS) — A Mississippi State University student was arrested early this week on suspicion of directing an antisemitic tirade at U.S. Jewish social-media star Dave Portnoy. Following his arrest, a crowdfunding campaign was launched to support the student’s legal defense, raising nearly $30,000 within 24 hours.
While standing outside a pizzeria filming a video for his successful show “One Bite Pizza Reviews,” Portnoy became the victim of an antisemitic act when a passerby shouted at him, “F**k the Jews,” “F**k you, Dave Portnoy,” and threw coins at him.
The suspect in the incident, Patrick McClintock, 20, was arrested by police in Starkville, Miss., for allegedly attacking Portnoy. Subsequently, a misdemeanor charge was filed against him for “disturbing public order,” and he was released on a $2,500 bond.
The fundraising campaign launched on GiveSendGo drew support from more than 900 donors.
Posts in the campaign included antisemitic language and conspiracy theories, including references to alleged “Zionist” control and criticism of what was characterized as “Jewish privilege.” The campaign portrayed the student’s arrest as a “violation of free-speech rights” and claimed he was a “victim of tribal privilege exploiting the law.”
According to police, the student moved “from the boundary of free speech to disturbance,” leading to his arrest. A video posted on social media shows Portnoy reacting to the incident, which he characterized as an “unjustified antisemitic outburst.” Witnesses said those present at the incident swiftly rejected the attacker’s words and expressed support for Portnoy.
Portnoy himself said following the incident that antisemitic incidents and hate events have become a “daily occurrence” and that the case represents part of a broader cultural shift. According to reports, McClintock voluntarily withdrew from MSU following the widely publicized incident.
This is not the first time Portnoy, owner of the successful site Barstool Sports, has found himself “starring” online due to incidents tainted with antisemitism. Last June, while he was filming a pizza review video for his show in Toronto, Canada, he encountered a similar attack when a passerby shouted at him the same antisemitic curse.
A month before that, Portnoy chose to punish two employees at his sports bar after learning they had waved a sign with the antisemitic inscription “F**k the Jews” during a baseball game. “I was seething with anger when I heard about the incident,” he said at a press conference. “I was shaking and thought my next mission would be to destroy these two’s lives.”
He eventually calmed down and chose a different approach to teach them a lesson. “I won’t destroy their lives, but I will educate them — they will fly to Auschwitz for a history lesson. There have been too many cases of antisemitism in the United States since Oct. 7, 2023, and this needs to end,” said Portnoy.
