A brutal beat down of two Jewish men outside a restaurant in San Jose, California is being investigated as a potential antisemitic hate crime.
The attack, parts of it caught on camera, occurred mid Sunday afternoon by three young men in black tee shirts outside a restaurant in a popular shopping district, reportedly after attackers heard the the two men speaking Hebrew.
One of the men is seen being pummeled on the sidewalk — the assault coming on Sunday midafternoon, a week after the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran.
“The victims alleged that the suspects used antisemitic language during the altercation,” police told Fox News. “The incident is currently being investigated by the Assaults Unit as a possible hate crime.”
Authorities said the incident began when the three men approached the two Jewish men, both of whom would soon sustain injuries from the attack.
J, the Jewish News of Northern California, reported that Lior Zeevi, 47, and Daniel Levy, 48, were waiting for a table outside the upscale Augustine restaurant on Santana Row just before the trio allegedly pounced.
Accoding to J:
Zeevi and Levy were interviewed together on a phone call with J. on Tuesday. The men, both originally from Haifa and longtime friends who met through Chabad of Almaden, said they were speaking in Hebrew to each other while waiting for their table. Levy saw a man approaching them with a “very weird look” and asked the man, “Do we know each other?”
“When I turned around to see who he’s talking to, it was already too late,” Zeevi told J. “They started punching, and it was brutal.”
Levy said he briefly lost consciousness after one punch to the head, but believes he took multiple blows. Both men told the outlet they had head and face swelling, Levy’s lower lip was split, and Zeevi’s white shirt was torn.
Zeevi said he heard one of the men yell, “Fucking Jew” as he was pounded.
The trio fled as onlookers shouted for them to stop. As of Wednesday, the suspects remained at large.
This isn’t the first time that Zeevi, who owns an HVAC company in San Jose, has been targeted. Last summer, several work vehicles parked at his business were vandalized and spray painted with “KKK” and swastikas.
The alarming incident resulted in a statement from San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan on what he called a “deeply disturbing incident.”
“Antisemitism and all acts of hatred have no place in San Jose,” he said, adding he was monitoring the investigation as it continues.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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