ASHEVILLE - Police have charged a second man with ethnic intimidation after an assault of three seminar attendees at the West Asheville Library June 29.
Tyler Byrne Hackett Kelly, 33, faces one charge of misdemeanor ethnic intimidation "specifically for his actions" at the library, according to a July 18 news release from the Asheville Police Department.
The language in the release is nearly identical to a July 16 release that announced the same charges for another man who they say was was also involved in the assault at the library.
Kelly is described as a 5 foot, 11 inch white male with red hair and blue eyes. He is known to frequent the Haywood Road area of West Asheville, the release said.
Detectives are asking for the public's help in locating Kelly and in identifying other people of interest.
This is the third criminal charge stemming from a fight that broke out in one of the library’s public meeting rooms during a seminar called “Strategic Lessons from the Palestinian Resistance,” which was part of the fifth annual Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair. Between 80 and 100 people were in attendance, according to police.
APD officers first responded to reports of a fight in progress around 2:57 p.m. June 29 at the library on Haywood Road, the Citizen Times previously reported. Police received three 911 calls during the incident, one coming from a librarian.
Tensions arose when an attendee, Monica Buckley, 48, was livestreaming the speech. This allegedly escalated to punching and kicking, as previously reported. In a video circulating on social media, an attendee calls attention to the livestream and another person responds, "They're Zionists. We've been trying to figure out how to deal with them."
Police continue to investigate the incident, partly using surveillance footage from the library to identify several people of interest. An APD incident report for the alleged assault lists three different crimes: simple assault, damage to personal property and resist, delay, obstruct an officer.
City leaders denounced violence in the community in the days following the alleged assault, with Mayor Esther Manheimer stating, “The members of the Asheville community deserve the right to enter any community spaces with a feeling of security. We will not tolerate violence, either against or carried out in our community."
Other groups, such as Jewish Voice for Peace in Asheville, pushed back on characterizations of the assault and bookfair events as antisemitic. They pointed out how some of the organizers of the anarchist bookfair and many attendees of the different events are Jewish.
To anonymously share information, text TIP2APD to 847411 or use the TIP2APD smartphone app. Information can also be shared by calling 828-252-1110.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on X, formerly Twitter, at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
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