Two Israeli American men were brutally attacked outside a San Jose, California, restaurant on March 8. The victims were waiting for a table and speaking to each other in Hebrew when three young men approached and began punching them repeatedly, knocking one of them unconscious. During the assault, the assailants were reportedly heard shouting, “Don’t mess with Iran” and “f*** the Jews,” according to the Times of Israel.
On Monday, the San Jose Police Department announced that three suspects “believed to be responsible for the attack” were arrested.
A redacted copy of the March 11 SJPD report released to the district attorney and the court can be viewed here. The report states that all three suspects appeared to be Middle Eastern males.
According to a Monday news release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, the suspects have been charged with felony and misdemeanor assault.
The statement quotes District Attorney Jeff Rosen: “We won’t tolerate pummeling a victim on the ground in front of a restaurant or anywhere, and we will hold the perpetrators fully accountable. Our public spaces have to be safe for all to enjoy without fear.”
Given the clearly antisemitic language directed at the victims, the ethnicities of those involved, and the brutal nature of the attack, many of us were expecting to see the suspects charged with hate crimes.
The news release addresses this issue: “These charges do not reflect allegations of a hate crime at this time. However, this remains an active investigation. The DA’s Office is working closely with SJPD to review all new information.”
The DA’s Office identified the suspects as Bruneil Henry Chamaki, 32, of Morgan Hill, and brothers Roma Akoyans, 20, and Ramon Akoyans, 18, both of San Jose. They will be arraigned on May 12.
KTVU News reported that Chamaki is an attorney. According to the California Bar Association website, his license is active and he is affiliated with Sacramento law firm Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP.
Asked by KTVU for a comment on Chamaki’s arrest, a spokesperson for Murphy Austin said in a statement that he “has not been affiliated with the firm since the end of January.”
The statement continued, “Murphy Austin was shocked and disturbed to learn of the violent incident reported in San Jose. The conduct described in the reports is deeply troubling. Murphy Austin condemns antisemitism, violence, and acts of hatred in any form.”
I reported on this story last week:
The victims, who wish to remain anonymous, spoke to ABC 7 News. One said, “Every punch connected directly to where they wanted, to the head directly. It was on purpose to hit and make maximum damage.”The other man told ABC, “One of the witnesses said that they heard them saying, ‘don’t mess with Iran’, which we don’t know why. We don’t have any problem with them. But, I heard at the beginning of the fight, something with, ‘F the Jews’.”
“This kind of violence [is] not supposed to happen in the middle of the day on a Sunday – with kids and elderly people, and everybody’s walking around,” he added.
According to ABC, one of the victims “was knocked out cold and required stitches. The other was badly cut and bruised.”
ABC noted this was not the first time they had encountered one of the victims. It turns out that last August, his business was vandalized with graffiti of swastikas and hateful language.
A witness told the San Francisco Chronicle that he “was a short distance away when he noticed the attack, and that nobody stepped in to stop it.” [This article is behind a paywall.]Several social media users made similar observations.
This violent attack is one of a growing number of related crimes that have occurred since the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28.
It remains to be seen whether hate crime charges will be added to the existing counts.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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