Screenshots from Instagram video
Two Upper West Siders depicted in a video circulating on social media have been the subject of widespread criticism since it went live earlier this month. Following the video’s release, the locals even tell us they’ve received thousands of death threats.
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The video shows Ronit Pinto and Sam Long fighting two young women who were tearing down Israeli hostage flyers on 75th and Broadway on Sunday, June 16. While Pinto and Long claim the unidentified young women instigated the skirmish, they do admit to reacting poorly.
Pinto is the founder of Honeysuckle Magazine, a progressive social justice magazine that has long been a cheerleader for the cannabis industry. Long, her husband, is the creative director.
Numerous posts on Instagram, X and other platforms called out Pinto and Long as the two individuals seen scuffling violently with three women who had been ripping down the flyers in the roughly 25-second video. The women were wearing keffiyehs, a Middle Eastern style head scarf, covering most of their faces, and one had a Palestinian flag affixed to her pants. At one point, Pinto is seen kicking one of the women who was sitting awkwardly on the sidewalk after being dragged to the ground by Long.
View this post on Instagram
(The video was also shared on Youtube.)
Commenters are portraying the nighttime confrontation as a politically-motivated fight stemming from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. But Long told ILTUWS he was just trying to protect his photography equipment after one of the women grabbed and smashed one of the cameras he had with him.
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Pinto said she is half-Israeli and has lived in Israel. Long said he is not Jewish.
In a mention of the brawl on the Wikipedia page for Honeysuckle, the women tearing down the flyers are identified as students at the Fashion Institute of Technology. But ILTUWS wasn’t able to verify this, and Pinto claims detractors have been editing the page without their knowledge since the dust-up.
The NYPD confirmed it is investigating the incident and that no arrests have been made so far. Police say that officers responded to a report of an assault on June 16 at about 9:30 p.m. in front of 2135 Broadway (at 75th Street). The police report states that two women, ages 21 and 23, told officers that they’d been in a “verbal dispute” with individuals they described as a man and a woman they thought were about 40 years old. They told police that the unidentified woman kicked one of the younger women and that the unidentified man broke the other young woman’s cellphone. Both women refused medical treatment, the police stated.
On June 17, the next day, Long went to the 20th Precinct to report the incident himself. According to the NYPD, Long claims he was taking photos at the location when an unidentified masked woman “grabbed his camera, causing it to break.”
The fracas began around 9 p.m. when Pinto was walking home from a ballet class in Midtown. She came upon the scene and saw several women tearing down the “kidnapped” flyers while, she said, neighbors and passersby were asking them to stop.
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“They were agitating the entire block. People were begging them to stop,” Pinto said. “It was really upsetting people.”
She said the women were calling the flyers Israeli propaganda. Pinto exchanged heated words with some of the women and took videos of them with her phone. She said she then called Long to tell him what was going on.
Long, a photographer, arrived on the scene a few minutes later with several cameras on him, we were told. He told ILTUWS that he asked the women if he could photograph them and that they said yes. Pinto walked away but later returned.
At first, he said, the women seemed agreeable to being photographed and even posed. At one point, one turned to the camera and made the upside down triangle gesture, Long said. The inverted red triangle has been used as a symbol of Palestinian resistance, though the Anti-Defamation League says that “in certain cases [it] can signify support for violent Palestinian resistance against Israel.”
Sam Long
While they appeared non-confrontational at first, Long and Pinto claim they would soon become angry and aggressive.
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“One of them grabbed his camera and threw it to the ground and smashed it,” Pinto said.
From there on, Long and Pinto said the struggle, from their point of view, was for Long’s remaining camera equipment.
In the video, taken by an unknown bystander, Long can be seen struggling with one woman and grabbing and pulling her keffiyeh as she falls to the ground. Another woman then approached them and Long begins to aggressively tussle with her, pulling her several feet down the sidewalk and dragging her down to the ground where he continues to struggle with her. He said he was trying to prevent her from getting his cameras. At that point, Pinto reappears and begins kicking the woman as she is half sitting, half lying on the ground. The first woman Long scuffled with had also rushed over to help the second woman and was part of the melee.
“Someone grabbed his gear. That’s what caused his reaction, not that it’s justified or the right thing,” Pinto said of Long. “It wasn’t about the posters or anything. They absolutely attacked him first.”
“Honestly, obviously this is regrettable behavior and I don’t condone it, by no means,” Long said of his actions. “I lost my cool. I should have walked away. It was total chaos.”
Of kicking the woman on the sidewalk, Pinto admits she also did not react well.
“I reacted. Obviously not the best reaction, but I was afraid of getting my hands in there,” Pinto said. “I came back when they were on the ground. I thought she had our camera. My first thought is she was going to smash our gear. I reflexed. It was a very fight or flight situation. It was heated and scary. I didn’t know what else to do. I thought she was going to break our equipment.”
The magazine publishers said they’ve been harassed and threatened since the incident.
“We’ve had multiple threats of violence. ‘I’m going to kill you.’ ‘Watch your back.’,” Pinto said.
On some social media posts, Long’s phone number and email were displayed next to the video. That number has since been disconnected. The pair also disabled their social media accounts.
“We’ve received thousands of death threats,” Long said. “Every digital portal that this mob can reach out through, they have. My phone was ringing 24 hours a day.”
While they’ve been called Zionists on social media, Long said that’s not true. “I am not a Zionist. I am not Jewish. I’m politically left of center,” he said. “This was not motivated at all by ideology, race or religion. It had nothing to do with who these people were.”
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In the wake of the incident, the pair put a formal statement on their now-private Instagram page.
As fallout from the incident unfolded, at least two organizations cut ties with Honeysuckle. Cannabiziac, an advocacy organization for the cannabis industry, removed Pinto from its advisory board, according to Wikipedia. Meanwhile, The Travel Agency, a cannabis store with several retail locations in NYC, announced it was severing its relationship with the magazine, according to Where Is The Buzz – which published the following statement.
“The Travel Agency is appalled to witness the recent violence involving the founders of Honeysuckle Magazine. In accordance with our zero tolerance policy for violence, and our commitment to creating a safe and inclusive community for our staff and customers, we have made the decision to immediately sever all ties with Honeysuckle Magazine and the individuals involved in this abhorrent occurrence.”
We will provide updates if and when we learn more.
Little correction, the inverted triangle is a symbol that Hamas uses to designate their targets. It’s explicitly a call for violence against Israelis.
So nothing to do with the Palestinian flag. /s
Grow the **** up, all of you
A grown man and his wife are on video assaulting young women on the street and this publication chooses to defend him. His defense being, “I was protecting my camera”. What an absolute disgrace
Oh Liam.
These filthy animals tearing down pictures of hostages are lucky that’s all they got. They deserved worse.
So you advocate violence?
The posters are a very one sided representation of reality, and many contain an out right lie.
Take your Hamas propaganda and shill it somewhere else. The reason it’s a “one-sided” issue is because the Israelis don’t take hostages and then rape and torture them in tunnels. And who cares if they’re “young college students” – they’re carrying water for barbaric bloodthirsty terrorists and THEY were probably dancing with glee on October 7.
You’re racist in case you didn’t know it.
USWOldSchool:
In what world does Israel not take hostages, and rape Palestinian prisoners.
The claims of mass rape by Hamas are well documented to be lies. The NYT further destroyed itself by publishing them.
Yes, how is this comment permitted?
How are you permitted?
Fred:
Because my comment is factual.
History didn’t start on Oct. 7th 2023 CE.
Jay, you are an embarrassment. How far back would you like to go? Wish I could block your inane posts.
Ish,
1948 is just fine.
But hey, you can limit the going back to just the last 5 years.
Facts bother you.
Document that
Ish,
The [mass] rape claims on the posters are lies. The NYT has further destroyed its credibility by publishing these lies.
Then also, all of the posters are written as if history only began on Oct. 7th 2023 CE.
Real easy to document.
How was this comment approved by website moderators? The language used to describe young college students, and the call for violence against them, is disgusting. Shame on you, “uwsoldschooler”.
Liam,
Violence against those supporting Palestinians is being tolerated.
where’s the interview with the women to explain their story? this is terrible one sided reporting.
From what is written here, Sam Long was looking for an altercation of some sort. He wasn’t at the scene initially and voluntarily showed up with expensive camera equipment based on the assumption that the situation would escalate and he could get a “story.” Little did he realize he would be the story. I’m tired of how everyone wants to be an influencer. Everyone wants to get the video that will go viral. As for Pinto, she’s the one who dragged her husband into this mess. I have seen dozens of people put up the fliers and take them down without any sort of violent engagement.
He’s literally a journalist. Not an “influencer.” He’s the creative director of a magazine — a real, normal, printed (and digital) magazine. Part of his magazine’s job is to report on things that happen — to get stories. We need journalists to do that, because we need to know what happens in the world. The problem with “influencers” is that they think they’re journalists, when they’re not. He is, again, because I don’t think I’ve said this enough times, a journalist, and thus he was doing HIS JOB.
These women attacked a journalist for taking their picture. I guess they were ashamed of their conduct, but whatever the reason their decision to attack a journalist is what caused this. It’s sad but predictable that the journalists are then further attacked by a mob of people online who only want journalists who will lie for them, and not journalists who record their actual conduct. But no matter which side you’re on, you do not get to attack journalists — it’s wrong if you’re Israeli and it’s wrong if you’re Palestinian.
Nor will I accept the argument that the women would not have gotten violent if only the journalists hadn’t taken their picture — that this would have been a peaceful argument if not for the journalists. The women are responsible for their own violence. Journalists aren’t.
Thank you, Bob. It’s sad that in these times, one must teach these basic concepts, but here we are.
The truth is that they grabbed his camera. The next truth is they were tearing down the few remaining posters of the hostages. I have to admit, if I witnessed someone tearing them down, I would record their faces and confront their anti Semitism. You see it’s alright for Hamas to inflict suffering, but it’s not acceptable for Jews to fight back. We will fight back, because our existence is what is at risk.
JB. At least make a little effort to hide your bias.
You’re welcome.
Why are they tearing down posters of kidnapped men women and children? Do they have something to hide? Something they don’t want other people to see? They hide their faces when they do these activities. I don’t see Israelis or Israeli supporters hiding behind masks etc. Go and protest and support Palestine but why tear down the posters? They don’t want the Jews to exist. This is why Israel is more important than ever.
If people don’t like the UWS culture, they should not be here. If they are from outside UWS, then shame on them for coming to the UWS to spew hate. If they are from inside UWS, they should move to a move to a neighborhood (e.g. a “territory” comprised of other like-minded folks, whom no other middle-eastern country would consider taking as a refugees) that is more accepting of their innate hatred towards others.
Yes!
UpperKvetchSider:
So “it’s my culture” is a legit defense.
You sound like a KKK defender in Alabama in 1962.
Also you know little of UWS culture.
Here’s a novel concept. BOTH SIDES ARE WRONG.
This was clearly not self defense. That savage pulling the girls hair while she’s on the ground is very telling. Arrest him. The woman kicking the girl while she was sitting… savage. Arrest her. These rich upper west side trust fund kids are just used to getting their way. Long denies being Jewish… but his social media was all Menorah and Jewish traditions over the winter holiday… not that there is anything wrong with that but their background make it very clear that they went into this with an objective more sinister than just unbiased journalism. Good riddance to them from the cannabis industry, an industry that needs less grifters.
Your hatred knows no bounds, does it?
Savage. Arrest him. Savage. Arrest her. All Menorah and Jewish traditions. Sinister. Good riddance. Cannabis industry needs less grifters….
Quite the agenda laced with hatred here.
Pinto ‘walking back from ballet’ sounds so very sinister and pre-meditated. You clearly know nothing if you think that they have trust funds. lol.