A Jewish man from Los Angeles was confirmed dead Monday after he was allegedly struck in the head by a megaphone wielded by pro-Palestinian protester at an anti-Israel rally.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the umbrella body of Jewish philanthropy in the area, confirmed the death in a statement Monday, saying it was the “fourth major antisemitic crime committed in Los Angeles this year alone.”
Local news channel KTLA reported:
A 65-year-old Jewish man has died after an altercation at a pro-Palestinian rally in Thousand Oaks, Jewish community leaders announced on Monday.
The incident unfolded around 3:15 p.m. near the busy intersection of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Westlake Road where, according to fire officials, authorities first received a call of a “fight in progress” with an elderly man “down.”
…
A video posted to social media shows the man lying on the ground with an obvious head injury as two people, including a pro-Palestinian demonstrator, try to help.
Videos and images on social media purported to show the aftermath of the incident, and identified the victim as Paul Kessler, 65:
Local Fox affiliate KTTV-11 added: “Reports on social media said the man was holding an Israeli flag among the group of pro-Palestine demonstrators, when one demonstrator allegedly hit the man on the head with a megaphone. The hit allegedly caused the man to fall down and hit his head. Video on social media just showed the man on the ground holding his head after the fall.”
Update: Kessler’s age has been corrected to 69 years old.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: file
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