Harvard 'no longer affiliated' with librarian who tore down hostage fliers at anti-Israel rally

Harvard librarian Jonathan S. Tuttle is "no longer affiliated" with the university after he was allegedly seen tearing down a poster of Israeli hostages during an anti-Israel rally last week.

The Harvard Crimson reported on Monday that Tuttle, who had previously worked as a cataloger for the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe Institute, was no longer employed.

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton confirmed in a statement Sunday that the "Harvard employee involved in an incident during a protest last week is no longer affiliated with the University," according to the Crimson.

Tuttle was allegedly filmed during a Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine rally on March 3 ripping down posters of the Bibas children, Israeli hostages who were killed after being kidnapped by Hamas and brought into Gaza. Their remains were finally returned by Hamas in February.

Harvard has been one of multiple universities under fire for instances of antisemitism on campus. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

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Harvard Chabad, the school’s Jewish student organization, posted the video to their Instagram account shortly after it occurred, identifying the perpetrator as a Harvard library employee. However, the school’s guidelines on doxxing prevented them from displaying his face and name, though it was reported he was wearing Tuttle’s ID badge.

Harvard launched an investigation into the matter and Harvard’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, Sherri A. Charleston, confirmed Wednesday that the protester was a university employee in an email to "University affiliates," according to the Crimson.

The Crimson reported, "Charleston wrote in her email that the poster’s removal violates the University’s rules on the use of campus spaces. The rules, released in August 2024, prohibit ‘tampering with or removing’ approved displays."

She condemned the action at the time as "hateful" and an "affront" to free speech.

"The response to speech with which we disagree is more speech, not less; it’s more listening, more dialogue," Charleston wrote in the email. "It disparages those in our community when their perspectives or experiences are negated by destructive acts like these."

Harvard launched an investigation into its employees after a video caught a man tearing down fliers of the Bibas children on campus. (Photo by Michael Fein/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"Let us stand united in condemning acts that undermine the fabric of our community," she added.

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Radcliffe Institute Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin also condemned the video, saying that it constituted "misconduct" and may even be criminal.

"I strongly support the right of all Americans and all members of our community to protest in support of positions that we hold dear," Brown-Nagin said in a letter to Radcliff affiliates, according to the Crimson.

"But disruptive behaviors—including property destruction or defacement and acts of vandalism that seek to suppress or censor the speech of others—are not protected speech," she added. "They are behaviors that constitute misconduct; they violate multiple Harvard and Radcliffe rules and may also be punished under criminal law."

Fox News Digital reached out to Tuttle and Harvard University for comment.

Jewish student organizations filed lawsuits against Harvard University over failing to curb antisemitism on campus. (Getty Images)

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Harvard continues to receive extra scrutiny over how it has handled instances of antisemitism on campus since the Israel-Gaza war began. 

In January, Harvard settled two lawsuits alleging anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli discrimination and the school’s failure to provide a safe learning environment for Jewish students.

On Monday, Fox News Digital learned that Harvard was also one of 60 schools under investigation by President Donald Trump's Department of Education for "antisemitic discrimination and harassment."