A Jewish man died Monday as a result of injuries suffered during an altercation at pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies over the weekend in Thousand Oaks, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
The 69-year-old man, identified as Paul Kessler, was injured in a confrontation during the rally northwest of Los Angeles that involved pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters.
Details about what led to Kessler's death were not immediately available.
According to the Ventura County Sheriff's Department, a pro-Palestinian rally and a pro-Israeli rally were happening simultaneously at the intersection of Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards in Thousand Oaks. The rally was one of many in Southern California and around the country in the month that followed the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel and the ensuing Hamas-Israel War.
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At around 3:20 p.m. on Sunday, the Ventura Sheriff’s received reports of an assault, the department said. Authorities arrived and found Kessler suffering from a head injury. The sheriff’s department said Kessler was involved in an altercation with another person and hit his head when he fell backward.
At a Tuesday morning news conference, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said the investigation involves a 50-year-old man who resides in Moorpark and was at the rally in support of Palestine, but he did not provide details about that man's connection to the altercation. Details about that individual's identity were not immediately available.
The man, who has been “cooperative,” was briefly detained and called 911 to seek medical help for the victim, officials said Tuesday.
No arrests were reported. Authorities said there might be others involved in the altercation. Fryhoff said investigators have received "conflicting information" about what happened at the rally.
Kessler was still conscious when deputies met with him at the hospital, where he later died, the sheriff's department said.
An autopsy on Monday indicated Kessler died from a blunt force head injury. The manner of death was determined by the coroner to be homicide, and authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the act was a hate crime.
Ventura County Chief Medical Examiner Chris R. Young said at a Tuesday news conference that the manner of death does not necessarily mean a crime has been committed.
"It's just that another individual was involved in this as the cause of death," Young said, adding that Kessler suffered injuries to the back of the head that are consistent with a fall an non-lethal injuries to part of his face.
Agents with the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office are in communication with the Ventura County Sheriff’s to determine the circumstances of the death, according to the FBI.
“It’s obviously a tremendous tragedy, a sad day for our community, this is a beautiful community, the Canejo Valley, for this to take place here is just extremely upsetting," said Rabbi Moshe Bryski, of Chabad of Agoura Hills. "The entire community is just in a state of shock. He just heard that there were demonstrations taking place, he loves Israel, he's proud of being a Jew, and he just went to wave his flag."
Rabbi Michael Barclay, of Temple Ner Simcha in nearby Westlake Village, urged people to wait for the investigation to play out before drawing conclusions about what happened at the protest.
“I just got off the phone with the Chief of Police,” he posted on X. “They have conflicting reports of what happened, and they did interview the suspect that is identified in social media at the event. They have no video.”
The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement, calling Kessler’s death a “tragic and shocking loss.”
“While we strongly support the right of political debate, CAIR-LA and the Muslim community stand with the Jewish community in rejecting any and all violence, antisemitism, Islamophobia, or incitement of hatred,” the statement said.
Authorities are seeking the public's help with the investigation. Anyone who witnessed the incident, has knowledge of this incident, or was present at the demonstration is asked to contact the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.
