Jewish man dies after altercation during dueling protests in California
A 69-year-old Jewish man died Monday from injuries he suffered during a weekend brawl in Southern California over the war between Israel and Hamas. Authorities said they were investigating the incident as a homicide and a possible hate crime.
The dispute occurred Sunday afternoon during dueling demonstrations at an intersection in Thousand Oaks, California, a suburb about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, authorities said. Deputies with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about a physical altercation at the protest site, where the agency said pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian factions were present.
There they found Paul Kessler with a head wound sustained when he fell backwards and hit his head on the ground. Mr. Kessler, a resident of Thousand Oaks, was taken to a hospital, where he died a day later. The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Mr. Kessler died of blunt force head injuries, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Witnesses told investigators that Mr. Kessler had gotten into a physical altercation with at least one counterprotester, authorities said.
Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff has scheduled a news conference Tuesday morning in Thousand Oaks.
Word of Mr. Kessler’s fall quickly resonated in communities that were already on edge. Several mourners brought flowers and lit candles Monday evening on a ledge outside a Shell gas station near where the altercation occurred.
Rabbi Michael Barclay, of nearby Temple Ner Simcha, said Monday evening that he had urged congregants not to share rumors and that he had previously discouraged community members from counter-protesting pro-Palestinian demonstrations to avoid confrontations.
Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Los Angeles office, denounced all violence and urged people not to “sensationalize such a tragedy for political gain or to spread rumors that could unnecessarily escalate tensions that are already high. high time.”
“We urge everyone to wait until the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office completes its investigation before drawing any conclusions,” Mr. Ayloush said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the family and the Jewish community at this difficult time.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles pointed to recent cases of anti-Semitic crimes in the region that have roiled Jewish residents of Southern California.
“The fact is that a Jewish man is now dead,” said Rabbi Noah Farkas, the federation’s president and chief executive. “And here we are again as a Jewish community, afraid, terrified to express ourselves, to be ourselves.”
Shawn Hubler And Livia Albeck-Ripka reporting contributed.