From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 7, 2023
US police briefly detained suspect in pro-Israel demonstrator’s death; much yet unclear
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US police briefly detained the suspect in the death of a Jewish man in the Los Angeles area but released him shortly thereafter and have not made any arrests in the case, local law enforcement says.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles issued a statement yesterday asserting that the yet-to-be-named suspect, a pro-Palestinian protester, had struck 69-year-old Paul Kessler in the head with a megaphone during an altercation on Sunday. Kessler succumbed to his wounds yesterday morning.
Officials from Ventura County, where the altercation unfolded, refrain from making the same determination declared by the local Jewish federation, saying that there’s not yet enough evidence to do so.
They say Kessler sustained non-lethal injuries to the left side of his face but that it was the blow he took to the head when he fell to the ground that caused the injury that led to his death hours later.
Ventura County sheriff James Fryhoff says Kessler’s death “is being investigated as a homicide,” and investigators have not yet ruled out the possibility of a hate crime.
Ventura chief medical examiner Chris Young clarifies that “a manner of death being a homicide does not indicate that a crime has been committed,” rather that the death was the result of another person’s actions.
Fryhoff says police still don’t know what unfolded before Kessler fell to the ground and are seeking more information from the public, adding that the facial injuries could have been caused by a megaphone but that this has not been confirmed.
“Witnesses provided conflicting statements about the altercation and who the aggressor was,” Fryhoff says. “Some of the witnesses were pro-Palestine, while others were pro-Israel.”
