Anger management and 80 hours of community service ordered for two Harvard students charged in 2023 campus assault
BOSTON, April 29, 2025 – A Brighton BMC judge on Monday ordered two Harvard graduate students to perform 80 hours of community service and complete an anger management program for an October 2023 assault of a fellow student during a protest on the Harvard Business School campus, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
As part of his pre-trial diversion decision, Judge Stephen McClenon also ordered the students, ELOM TETTEY-TAMAKLO, 28, and IBRAHIM BHARMAL, 28, to attend an eight-hour class on conflict resolution.
Assistant District Attorney Ursula Knight objected to any resolution that did not include a statement of accountability from the defendants and recognition of the harm they caused the victim, Yoav Segev, who Knight said had done nothing wrong.
A Brighton BMC clerk magistrate on May 8, 2024 issued criminal complaints alleging that Tettey-Tamaklo and Bharmal surrounded Segev as he walked through an October 18, 2023 pro-Palestinian protest on the business school campus. They covered his head with keffiyehs and shouted “exit” at him. They and others surrounded Segev, jostled and assaulted him, chanted “shame, shame, shame” and blocked Segev’s path.
McClenon issued his order after hearing a victim impact statement read by Segev, a first-year business school student at the time of the incident.
“After they assaulted and traumatized me, they refused to take any responsibility for their actions. They could have reached out to me to apologize. They did just the opposite. They took their case to the media, slandering me in the process. They publicly declared that they were ‘proud of their actions,’ failed to cooperate with law enforcement by identifying their fellow assailants, and have failed to show an ounce of remorse or take any accountability whatsoever,” Segev said.
“Their assault was not a rash incident at a bar,” Segev continued. “Their actions and public commentary afterwards demonstrate that the defendants believe they were acting in a private security capacity and are above the law, using force to determine who can and cannot be in public spaces—deciding to exclude the visibly Jewish student.”
Hayden said every resident of Suffolk County has the right to move freely, the right of free expression, and the right to be free from physical harm, and that his office will act when any of those rights are criminally impeded.
“Mr. Segev is an entirely innocent victim. He did nothing wrong leading up to this incident and nothing wrong during this incident. He had a Constitutional right to walk across the campus of his school without being accosted or assaulted. As such, we were prepared to go to trial to seek accountability from the two defendants and justice for Mr. Segev,” Hayden said.
Although McClenon ordered pre-trial diversion absent his office’s requested statement, Hayden said he was pleased that in imposing both a community service requirement and an anger management program, McClenon recognized the harm to Segev and his right to cross his campus freely and safely.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications