American Killed in Egypt Was Teacher, 21

Student Andrew Pochter worked with nonprofit helping kids with English
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 29, 2013 1:30 PM CDT
American Killed in Egypt Was Teacher, 21
This undated photo provided by the Pochter family shows Andrew Driscoll Pochter.   (AP Photo/Pochter Family)

More details are emerging about the 21-year-old American student killed yesterday during protests in Egypt. Andrew D. Pochter had been in the country working for a nonprofit called Amideast, reports ABC News. His family in Chevy Chase, Maryland, explains in a statement:

  • “Our beloved 21-year-old son and brother Andrew Driscoll Pochter went to Alexandria for the summer, to teach English to 7- and 8-year-old Egyptian children and to improve his Arabic. He was looking forward to returning to Kenyon College for his junior year and to spending his spring semester in Jordan.”

Pochter was stabbed in the chest during protests in Alexandria, say Egyptian authorities. The State Department says he had been photographing the clashes between opponents and supporters of Mohamed Morsi near the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood, reports the AP. (Bigger protests are expected tomorrow.) The New York Times has found an article that Pochter wrote in 2011 while living with a host family in Morocco in the midst of the Arab Spring. It's a hopeful piece, as he recounts the democratic transformation taking place. Says his family: “He went to Egypt because he cared profoundly about the Middle East, and he planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding." (More Andrew Pochter stories.)

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