Jewish Man's Death Ruled Homicide After Altercation at Pro-Palestinian Protest in Southern California (Update)

AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes

There were two protests Sunday afternoon in Thousand Oaks, California, a city west of Los Angeles near Simi Valley. Pro-Palestinian protesters were on one side of a large intersection and pro-Israel protesters were on the other side. A little after 3pm there was a confrontation between two men which ultimately resulted in one man’s death.

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There doesn’t appear to be video of the incident itself but witnesses claim 69-year-old Paul Kessler was either hit or pushed by a man from the pro-Palestinian protest. Kessler then fell back and hit his head on the pavement.

Kessler, of Thousand Oaks, was struck in the head, knocked backward and hit his head on the ground, deputies said.

Paramedics responded to a “fight in progress” and found the victim suffering a head injury, according to Andy VanSciver, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. Kessler was transported to a local hospital, where he died Monday.

Video shows Kessler lying on the ground with blood coming from his head.

So far as I can tell, this is the only mention of the twin protests on Sunday from an antifascist group supporting the pro-Palestinian side. They mentioned there was one “physical altercation” and included a photo of Kessler on the sidewalk.

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Fox News spoke to an eyewitness:

A local man who was at the protest met Kessler minutes before he died, though he did not witness the altercation. The man, who did not want to be named, shared with Fox News Digital that he left to get something from his car and, when he returned, he saw Kessler “lying on the ground with blood everywhere.”

Multiple onlookers dialed 911 but were unable to get through, including the alleged perpetrator, the man shared…

The man who didn’t want to be identified described some of the pro-Palestinian protesters as “extremely aggressive” and said they were yelling at police and “trying to incite a reaction or response.”

No surprise there. Leftist protesters always turn their attacks on police if given a chance.

After Kessler’s death Monday, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles released a statement saying that a pro-Palestinian protester hit Kessler in the face with a megaphone.

That detail has not been confirmed yet by authorities. A rabbi from the immediate area said on X that he’d spoken with police and they had heard conflicting reports about what happened.

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But about an hour later on Monday night, someone else received photos and video from the scene taken by another eyewitness.

The eyewitness apparently backed up the megaphone story. Also, according to the source/eyewitness photos that circulated Monday afternoon were not of the alleged attacker but of another man (2nd tweet below) who was present but not directly involved.

You can see the alleged suspect talking to a female police officer in this next clip. To be clear, his identity and involvement haven’t been confirmed by police yet.

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There is allegedly a video of the attack but it was taken by Paul Kessler and police have collected it as evidence.

The death has been ruled a homicide and police are investigating and haven’t ruled out the possibility of a hate crime.

“The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be blunt force head injury and the manner of death homicide,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement…

“The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident and has not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime,” it said in a statement.

The sheriff’s department did not detail more about how Kessler’s injury occurred.

Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday morning.

A homicide designation by the Medical Examiner does not necessarily mean this was murder. This incident still could be treated as manslaughter depending on the exact circumstances determined by the police. But it does seem pretty clear that the altercation caused the injuries that led to this death. Hopefully we’ll have more clarity on that shortly.

A small vigil was held late Monday night at the intersection where Kessler was injured.

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Update: The NY Times has an account from an eyewitness, Jonathan Oswaks, who had met Kessler the week before and agreed to meet up and counter-protest the following week by holding Israeli flags.

The pair met again on Sunday around 2 p.m., an hour before the pro-Palestinian rally was scheduled to begin, Mr. Oswaks said. He and Mr. Kessler then split up and stood on opposite sides of Westlake Boulevard intending to “occupy space,” he said, and Mr. Kessler was holding an Israeli flag.

As the pro-Palestinian demonstrators began to gather, a man whom Mr. Oswaks believed he recognized from the previous week’s protest began yelling into his ear with a megaphone, Mr. Oswaks said. The man then crossed the road and approached Mr. Kessler. Mr. Oswaks said that he saw the man swing his megaphone toward Mr. Kessler but was not sure if Mr. Kessler had been struck.

So Oswaks was across the street and couldn’t tell if the swing with the megaphone connected or not. There’s supposed to be a briefing from the Ventura County sheriff’s office about the time this story goes up this morning. I’ll add video of that once it’s available.

Update: Here’s the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office press conference. The bottom line here is that the police have conflicting reports about what caused Mr. Kessler to fall and they are hoping someone has video or images that can reveal exactly what happened. At this point, the suspect has not been arrested though his car and apartment have been searched.

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However, the Medical Examiner said there were injuries to the left side of Kessler’s face which were consistent with someone being struck. Those injuries weren’t life threatening on their own but may have caused the fall which did ultimately kill Kessler. But again, the police are hoping for video which clarifies which witnesses were giving an accurate account.

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Ed Morrissey 2:00 PM | October 11, 2024
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