The executive director of a Jewish human rights watchdog group was cleared of all wrongdoing after a mistaken arrest in a Boston-area pizzeria.
Hillel Neuer, who has headed the Geneva-based U.N. Watch since 2004, was cleared of charged Monday morning. On Friday, workers at the Stone Hearth Pizza in Needham, Mass., confused him with a murderer on the loose in the area. After thinking they had spotted Neuer with a gun, pizzeria workers called in the police, who made the arrest.
Neuer, who did not have any weapon, was charged with disorderly conduct and released the same day.
A statement Monday from Neuer’s attorney described him as an innocent victim who was nearly killed in the confusion.
Pizza shop workers told the Boston Herald they found Neuer, 37, suspicious because he appeared “in distress,” was carrying several large bags and wanted a taxi to Newton, a neighboring town.
Neuer, who lives and works in Geneva, was in town to give a speech on U.N. Watch’s report on anti-Semitism in the United Nations.
Neuer’s speech to AJC’s Boston chapter on Sunday went on as scheduled.
