Excerpts from Monday’s testimony to President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission by Moshe Glick — a dentist, father of three and grandfather of four — on his arrest and prosecution for defending a victim of antisemitic protesters at a New Jersey synagogue.
You can’t really call yourself a civil rights activist until you’ve felt the cold steel of handcuffs close around your wrists, stood defiantly for the mugshot and been fingerprinted like a common criminal.
My “crime”? Defending a 64-year-old man from a violent assault during an unauthorized protest that blocked and intimidated worshippers at Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange, NJ, on Nov. 13, 2024.
Pro-Hamas agitators disrupted a peaceful Jewish-Christian gathering praying for peace in Israel, the safe return of the hostages from Gaza, reciting psalms and biblical verses and exploring purchasing a home in Israel.
One protester, Altaf Sharif, ignored police orders, charged past officers, seized an individual, who turned out to be 64-year-old David Silberberg, in a life-threatening chokehold, body-slammed him to the ground — all captured on video — then provided false verbal and written statements to the police.
Sharif faced no charges. The police didn’t even investigate.
When my attorney pressed the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey, the response was chilling: “No one else was investigated because no one else committed a crime — only your client.”
This is the hallmark of a weaponized justice system: one that buries evidence to serve an agenda.
In stark contrast, I — the one who stepped in to stop a brutal assault — was the only one arrested.
I repeatedly pleaded for the police to help; but they did nothing.
As a doctor and volunteer EMT, I recognized late signs of a constricted airway — [Silberberg’s] legs buckling, a critical indicator of impending loss consciousness.
Only then, after all other attempts failed, did I use the small six-inch flashlight I was carrying (to illuminate the dark area that night) to intervene and free him by aiming to tap Sharif on the back.
Rogue local prosecutors selectively targeted me — the Jewish event organizer — while letting the video-recorded aggressor walk free.
I faced four felony charges — including second-degree bias intimidation, third-degree aggravated assault and two weapons offenses related to the flashlight.
A law-abiding citizen — volunteer EMT, nonprofit co-founder and philanthropist with zero criminal record — suddenly stared into an abyss: years in prison, the potential loss of my dental license and separation from my wife, children and grandchildren.
My faith in America’s justice system was utterly shattered.
I rejected a diversionary program, Pretrial Intervention, because that would mean a tacit admission that I had done something wrong for defending an individual from a vicious assault.
I fought — for truth, for justice, for the principle that defending others from hatred must never be criminalized.
This battle came at a great cost financially, mentally and spiritually, and had a heavy impact on my family. We all paid a huge price.
On his final day in office, Jan. 20, 2026, NJ Gov. Phil Murphy granted me a full pardon. I was never convicted. I am profoundly thankful.
Yet if the Essex County prosecutor can weaponize the government against honest, hard-working citizens like me — shielding aggressors while targeting defenders — we are all in peril.
I therefore ask Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon and the heroes working at the Department of Justice to investigate this matter fully.
If police and prosecutors shield aggressors and criminalize defenders in these circumstances, what will happen to communities of faith all over this nation?
Jews have long been the canary in the coal mine. Whenever antisemitism rises it’s a sign that democratic values, religious tolerance and civil liberties are in decline.
History’s warning rings clear across the centuries: Societies that fail to protect their Jews — or worse, turn against them — often hasten their own decline.
When antisemitism becomes policy or norm, it signals deeper erosion of democratic values, tolerance and liberty.
Societies that oppress the Jewish people sow the seeds of their own erosion.
History’s timeless caution: Defend the vulnerable, or risk joining the shadows of fallen empires.
America’s extraordinary success flows from its historic embrace of Judeo-Christian values and fierce protection of religious freedom for all who seek to worship God.
True patriots must stand united now to defend religious freedom for every American and every faith community — the sacred, God-given right to pray and worship without fear or favor.
We stand at a pivotal moment in history, one that calls us to rise together.
By addressing Jew-hatred, anti-religious extremism and all forces attacking those who worship God, we can safeguard the values that define our republic and secure a stronger, more united future for all Americans.
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