Mar. 9, 1962 - A Jewish student who slugged George Lincoln Rockwell during a student forum in San Diego yesterday acted only on a sudden impulse and regretted the incident, an official of San Diego State College said today. The official, who declined to use his name, said that the student, Edward Cherry, had approached Rockwell on stage in reply to the American Nazi party leader’s offer to debate. But Rockwell pushed the student back, the official said, and Mr. Cherry “let go with one punch to the jaw.” The fight was broken up by associates of Rockwell, and the meeting ended quickly. Rockwell said later he would not press charges, but the college plans a hearing on the incident. Mr. Cherry, a 22-year-old physical education major, lives in San Diego with his wife, but could not be reached for comment. College officials said that they were convinced Mr. Cherry was “sincere and not a trouble-maker.” One official said he wished the students had sat in “stone cold silence” during Rockwell’s anti-Jewish speech, but that “that’s too much to hope for in normal college kids.”
