L.A. sushi restaurant attack is being investigated as an antisemitic hate crime

  • May 19, 2021
A video frame grab shows the attack on diners outside a Beverly Grove sushi restaurant on Tuesday night.

A video frame grab shows the attack on diners outside a Beverly Grove sushi restaurant on Tuesday night.

Authorities are investigating a violent brawl outside a Beverly Grove sushi restaurant Tuesday night as an antisemitic hate crime.

Los Angeles Police Department officials said no arrests have been made, and officials have not released a motive.

But video that captured part of the attack shows several people in a caravan of cars with Palestinian flags yelling “F— you” and “You guys should be ashamed of yourselves” as they drove by the restaurant.

Later, the video showed a group of about eight people, most dressed in all black, descending on sidewalk diners. At one point, a person can be heard yelling, “Israel kills children!”

The fight grew increasingly violent as it spilled further onto the sidewalk. One man swung a metal stanchion at the attackers, who then pushed him against a car, punched and kicked him, the video shows.

“Guys, guys, it’s not worth it,” another man can be heard saying over a megaphone in the video as the attackers dispersed down the street.

The attack happened shortly before 10 p.m., according to the LAPD.

A witness told The Times that a caravan of cars waving Palestinian flags drove by the restaurant, Sushi Fumi, on La Cienega Boulevard. People from the caravan began throwing bottles and other items at the diners.

“They were chanting ‘death to Jews’ and ‘free Palestine,’” said the witness, who asked to remain anonymous because he feared for his safety. “They had malice.”

LAPD Officer Jeff Lee said three of the attackers were last seen heading northbound in a Jeep on La Brea.

At least one person suffered unknown injuries, Lee said, but no one was transported to the hospital.

Deputy Chief Vito Palazzolo, who oversees the LAPD’s West Bureau, said Wednesday that extensive resources are being used to identify the perpetrators, including security footage and witness videos.

“This behavior is completely unacceptable in our city,” Palazzolo said. “We are a city of many different backgrounds. We take every hate crime very seriously. This is not going unattended.”

Councilmember Paul Koretz said Wednesday that he will “do everything necessary to bring these criminals to justice and to restore order on our city streets.”

“We are not going to allow the violence in the Middle East to spill out onto the streets of Los Angeles. Everyone is entitled to express their opinion but never through violence.”

People should not be “viciously assaulted” because “they happen to look or be Jewish,” he added.

On Twitter, Mayor Eric Garcetti added: “We as a city condemn last night’s organized, anti-Semitic attack. Jewish Angelenos, like all residents, should always feel safe in our city.”

The incident occurred amid mounting pressure for a cease-fire in the battle between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, with President Biden on Wednesday calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “significant de-escalation” in the fighting. Israel has faced widespread condemnation for its attacks on Palestinians.

Over the last 10 days, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip with rocket fire, and scores of civilians, including children, have been killed.

Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since fighting broke out on May 10.

The incident in Los Angeles has some concerned that the conflict overseas is contributing to rising tension at home.

“We don’t know what the motivation is of the people who perpetrated this hate crime, but we’re certainly aware [that] what happens in Israel — what happens in the Middle East — does impact us here on the ground,” said Jeffrey Abrams, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles.

The incident is also the continuation of a wave of hate incidents in California, Abrams said: There has been a 40% increase in antisemitic incidents in the state over the last five years. A recent ADL report also found that 2020 was the third-highest year for incidents against American Jews since the ADL started tracking the data in 1979.

“What we are seeing is a dramatic uptick in Jewish institutions, synagogues, schools being targeted, and then what we saw last night was people who were on a public street,” Abrams said, “and that hate crime was meant to send a message — not just to Jewish Americans, but to everyone in the city. It was meant to terrorize.”

Hate crimes against Muslim Americans have also been rising sharply in recent years. A Los Angeles city report released last year showed anti-Muslim hate cases more than doubled, with officials stressing that there were likely many more that never got reported.

Earlier Tuesday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles as part of a “Global Day of Action” organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement to protest the violence overseas.

It is not clear whether the attackers at the restaurant were linked to that demonstration. Representatives with the organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Over the weekend, thousands of protesters also gathered in Westwood to show support for Palestinians, and to call on the U.S. government to stop providing military aid to Israel, remove the U.S. Embassy from Jerusalem and reverse former President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Palazzolo also acknowledged a second incident involving a security video that appeared to show an Orthodox Jewish man being chased by a caravan of people waving Palestinian flags near Rosewood and La Brea avenues Monday night, although he had not yet seen the video.

Both incidents drew condemnation from the Israeli-American Civic Action Network, which linked the incidents to the larger rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes.

“As Palestinian protesters attack Jews seated for dinner at a Los Angeles restaurant, and another Jewish individual on foot chased by two cars driven by Palestinian protesters, the scenes of violence that unfolded are undeniable evidence of the dangerous spike in antisemitism in the United States and abroad,” the organization said in a statement.

In Fresno, police are investigating incidents where protesters from both sides of the conflict say they were hit with pepper spray during heated demonstrations, the Fresno Bee reported.