Pierogi vendor delivers retort after Alan Dershowitz dustup on Vineyard
Advertisement
He said Dershowitz 'consciously decided' to defend and associate with people accused of abusing and harming women.
Miskevich said selling pierogi to Dershowitz, who also represented O.J. Simpson, would've been tantamount to endorsing 'his decisions and statements.'
'I have no desire to argue about the legal system in the U.S., or one's right to a fair trial,' Miskevich said. 'But I personally know too many sexual abuse survivors.'
Miskevich said Dershowitz's appearance at the booth caused him to 'pause and question my willingness to sell to him, and when I did, he began to harass us, misgender me, and film us without our consent.'
Miskevich, who's nonbinary, added that the 'aggression and threats of groundless litigation have been followed by the distribution of defamatory flyers where we conduct business, in an effort to further cement falsehoods.'
Advertisement
A request for comment was sent to Dershowitz on Thursday morning.
In a video statement last week, Dershowitz, who famously had
'And he said 'no,'' Dershowitz said. 'I said 'oh, you you've run out of pierogi? Too bad. [The vendor said] 'no no no, we have plenty of pierogi. I just won't sell them to you.''
Dershowitz said he asked for an explanation, and the vendor replied, ''I won't sell them to you because I don't approve of your politics. I don't approve of who you've represented. I don't approve of who you support.''
Dershowitz said he asked what specifically was objectionable about his political views, but the vendor wouldn't elaborate.
'The clear implication was that he opposed me because I
He said that after being refused service, he 'said to the people who were approaching the tent where he was selling his pierogi, 'do you really want to buy pierogi from a guy who won't sell it to somebody based on his politics? I think that would be wrong. You wouldn't buy from somebody who didn't sell to Black people, or gay people, or transgender people, or anything like that.''
In Tuesday's statement, Miskevich said, 'I do not wish to argue with Mr. Dershowitz about Israel. ... I, Krem, am Jewish. Members of my immediate family live in Israel. I love Shabbat and making challah. My friends call me 'Rabbi Krem,' and I have personal relationships with both Rabbis on-island.'
Advertisement
However, Miskevich added, 'We stand against those who harm or seek to harm others as well as those that would defend them.'
The statement followed a Monday X post from Dershowitz in which he called Miskevich an 'antisemite.'
'Don't patronize anti-semites who refuse to sell to Jewish Zionists,' Dershowitz said. 'Fight back against bigotry.'
Don't buy perogies tainted with the poison of antisemitism
As I correctly suspected, the bigot who refused to sell me perogi — Krem Miskevich — is a notorious anti-semite who is part of an anti-semitic organization that protests Jewish — not only Israeli— cultural events and…
— Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh)
Meanwhile the Martha's Vineyard Times posted video footage of another encounter Dershowitz had at the Good Pierogi booth on Wednesday.
With photographers snapping away, Dershowitz said he was asking to make a purchase in an effort to help 'restore community' on the island.
Miskevich told Dershowitz the things he'd been saying online about the business were objectionable, and the lawyer said they were true.
'You have proof that I am an antisemite?' Miskevich said.
'You protested the Jewish culture festival last year, which had nothing to do with Israel, with Zionism,' Dershowitz said.
Miskevich said they 'disagree' with the suggestion that the demonstration was antisemitic.
Dershowitz's association with Trump has
In August 2021, Dershowitz and David, the comic and creator of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' had a tense back and forth at the Chilmark General Store, according to the New York Post's
Advertisement
'We can still talk, Larry,' Dershowitz reportedly said to David on the porch of the store after attempting to greet him. Dershowitz and David used to be friends, Dershowitz later dished to Page Six.
'No. No. We really can't,' David reportedly said.
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Neo-Nazi group leader sentenced to 20 years in prison for planned Maryland power grid attack
BALTIMORE — The founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with his girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland's power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs. Brandon Russell, 30, was convicted by a jury earlier this year. Prosecutors presented evidence detailing his longstanding affiliation with white supremacist causes and his recent efforts to organize 'sniper attacks' on electrical substations around Baltimore. During a sentencing hearing Thursday afternoon in federal court in Baltimore, U.S. District Judge James Bredar excoriated the defendant for his reprehensible views, saying Russell was clearly the brains behind the operation, which sought to precipitate societal collapse by targeting the energy infrastructure of a majority-Black city. In the aftermath of the planned attacks, Russell and his co-defendant, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, intended to 'create their own bizarre utopia populated by people who only look and think like they do,' Bredar said. 'Well, that's not how it works,' the judge continued. 'The law doesn't permit that. We don't change course in this country via violent overthrow.' Bredar imposed the maximum sentence allowed for Russell's conviction of conspiracy to damage an energy facility. The judge also ordered a lifetime of supervised release, including close monitoring of Russell's electronic devices. Bredar previously sentenced Clendaniel to 18 years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to her role in the plot. He said Russell should receive a longer sentence because he was more culpable and contributed the 'intellectual horsepower' that propelled the plot closer to fruition. The two were arrested in February 2023 — before their plans were executed. Russell's attorney, Ian Goldstein, has argued that Clendaniel posed a greater threat because she was taking steps to obtain a firearm and shoot up electrical substations. Meanwhile, Russell was living in Florida with absolutely no plans to travel to Maryland, according to his attorney. 'For Mr. Russell, everything was talk,' Goldstein told the court. He also pointed to Russell's supportive family. Court papers filed ahead of sentencing included a letter from his mother, who said she believes he's been trying to fill the void left by a largely absent father. She said some challenges arose with her son after she moved them back to the Bahamas, where she has relatives. 'Brandon Russell is an educated young man who has served this country's military,' his attorney wrote, connecting his descent into Nazism with longstanding mental health challenges. 'His family relationships speak volumes of the person he can be.' The judge wasn't persuaded, but he noted Russell's 'somewhat complicated psychosocial history' and recommended mental health treatment during his time in prison. Russell declined to address the judge directly. He appeared in court wearing maroon prison attire and showed no obvious signs of emotion during the hearing. Several years ago, Russell co-founded the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, which is German for 'atomic weapon.' This wasn't his first run-in with law enforcement. In 2017, police responded to a 2017 double homicide at a Tampa apartment building and found Russell outside crying, dressed in military fatigues. One of his roommates had killed the other two, officials said. During a search of the house, police found a stash of highly explosive materials and a cache of neo-Nazi signs, posters, books and flags. Russell pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosives. Skene writes for the Associated Press.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Gavin Newsom urges UCLA not to strike a deal with Trump
Gov. Gavin Newsom urged UCLA Thursday not to capitulate to President Donald Trump's demands in order to claw what university leaders say is $584 million in federal research funding the administration has suspended or threatened because it says the campus has mishandled allegations of antisemitism on campus. UC President James Milliken said Wednesday the university system has agreed to talks with the administration over the allegations against UCLA. The Department of Justice announced on July 29 that it had determined the university violated Jewish students' rights by failing to adequately respond 'to complaints of severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive harassment.' But Newsom, who serves as a member of the UC Board of Regents, urged the nation's top public university system not to capitulate to Trump's demands like several Ivy League schools recently have. 'We're not Brown, we're not Columbia, and I'm not going to be governor if we act like that, period full stop. I will fight like hell to make sure that doesn't happen. There's principles, there's right and wrong, and we'll do the right thing. And what President Trump is doing is wrong, and everybody knows it.' The Trump administration has blocked more than $5 billion in funding from at least eight universities: Harvard ($2.3 billion), Columbia ($400 million), Duke ($108 million), Northwestern ($790 million), Cornell ($1 billion), Brown ($510 million), the University of Pennsylvania ($175 million) and UCLA ($300 million). Dozens more have been similarly threatened. Several law firms, meanwhile, have pledged nearly $1 billion in pro bono legal work to causes favored by Trump to avoid being penalized for doing work or representing clients the White House opposes. Newsom declined to say whether he has been involved in the UC's conversations about negotiating with Trump. 'They'll do the right thing, I have the confidence,' Newsom said. And I'll do everything in my power to encourage them to do the right thing and not to become another law firm that bends on their knees, another company that sells their soul, or another institution that takes a shortcut, takes the easy wrong versus the hard right.'
2 hours ago
Neo-Nazi group leader sentenced to 20 years in prison for planned Maryland power grid attack
BALTIMORE -- The founder of a Florida-based neo-Nazi group has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with his girlfriend to plan an attack on Maryland's power grid in furtherance of their shared racist beliefs. Brandon Russell, 30, was convicted by a jury earlier this year. Prosecutors presented evidence detailing his longstanding affiliation with white supremacist causes and his recent efforts to organize 'sniper attacks' on electrical substations around Baltimore. During a sentencing hearing Thursday afternoon in federal court in Baltimore, U.S. District Judge James Bredar excoriated the defendant for his reprehensible views, saying Russell was clearly the brains behind the operation, which sought to precipitate societal collapse by targeting the energy infrastructure of a majority-Black city. In the aftermath of the planned attacks, Russell and his co-defendant, Sarah Beth Clendaniel, intended to 'create their own bizarre utopia populated by people who only look and think like they do,' Bredar said. 'Well, that's not how it works,' the judge continued. 'The law doesn't permit that. We don't change course in this country via violent overthrow.' Bredar imposed the maximum sentence allowed for Russell's conviction of conspiracy to damage an energy facility. The judge also ordered a lifetime of supervised release, including close monitoring of Russell's electronic devices. Bredar previously sentenced Clendaniel to 18 years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to her role in the plot. He said Russell should receive a longer sentence because he was more culpable and contributed the 'intellectual horsepower' that propelled the plot closer to fruition. The two were arrested in February 2023 — before their plans were executed. Russell's attorney, Ian Goldstein, has argued that Clendaniel posed a greater threat because she was taking steps to obtain a firearm and shoot up electrical substations. Meanwhile, Russell was living in Florida with absolutely no plans to travel to Maryland, according to his attorney. 'For Mr. Russell, everything was talk,' Goldstein told the court. He also pointed to Russell's supportive family. Court papers filed ahead of sentencing included a letter from his mother, who said she believes he's been trying to fill the void left by a largely absent father. She said some challenges arose with her son after she moved them back to the Bahamas, where she has relatives. 'Brandon Russell is an educated young man who has served this country's military,' his attorney wrote, connecting his descent into Naziism with longstanding mental health challenges. 'His family relationships speak volumes of the person he can be.' The judge wasn't persuaded, but he noted Russell's 'somewhat complicated psycho-social history' and recommended mental health treatment during his time in prison. Russell declined to address the judge directly. He appeared in court wearing maroon prison attire and showed no obvious signs of emotion during the hearing. Several years ago, Russell co-founded the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, which is German for 'atomic weapon.' This wasn't his first run-in with law enforcement. In 2017, police responded to a 2017 double homicide at a Tampa apartment building and found Russell outside crying, dressed in military fatigues. One of his roommates had killed the other two, officials said. During a search of the house, police found a stash of highly explosive materials and a cache of neo-Nazi signs, posters, books and flags. Russell pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device and improper storage of explosives.
