There was an elderly man who died in Thousand Oaks, CA, yesterday. His name was Paul Kessler. He had been a counterprotester to a relatively small protest in support of Palestinian rights. Kessler, for his part, was holding an Israeli flag.
We don’t actually know what happened. Police have stated that there are conflicting reports and that there is no video of whatever occurred. There’s one video shot that shows the Israeli flag held, but Kessler and those he’s standing near are obscured by a gas station sign, so the camera doesn’t capture what happened. We can see that at one point the flag starts to go down, but it’s unclear what caused Kessler to falter.
I didn’t quite get a sense of this story at first, because the first news story I encountered about it had no sound. In fact, it was a collage of still pictures, and what was depicted—people standing near someone who had legs propped up, no observable urgency in the bystanders—did not match the headline. So I sought more information.
The next two news stories had far more emotion attached, and they leaned heavily on how the family of Mr. Kessler, who had since passed away, was responding to his death. One thing I noticed was that this coverage showed a woman from the Palestinian rights protest attending to him after he had fallen. She was clearly from the protest, as she had a “Free Palestine” motto on her tote bag and other indicators besides. She came over to Kessler and knelt near his head. By all indications, she was concerned about him.
The autopsy showed that he died of blunt force trauma to the head. The camera that showed the flag begin to falter shows the flag tilting at an odd angle. The news story stated that some scuffle had happened apparently and that that may have been the moment Kesler fell and possibly struck his head.
Apparently, according to rumors here at DKos, someone may have hit him with a megaphone. That detail has not been confirmed by reports (although Fox 11 ran with this unconfirmed rumor in its broadcast). I am not a forensic scientist, so I welcome correction on this point, but I would think that the autopsy should be able to show where the force originated (that is, from what angle), the pattern of damage, and whether the injury was consistent with either a fall or battery. This is not to say that there couldn’t have been both, but nothing that we have so far indicates that.
I’m writing this diary for two reasons. First concerns how this story was introduced here to the DKos community. Light on details in the diary proper, the author stated in the title that what had happened was murder. We have no indication of that. The coroner ruled the man’s death as a homicide, meaning that another person was involved in the death, but we don’t know the nature of that involvement. Murder requires intent, and it’s not at all clear that that is present. Only the author could tell us why he or she decided to call this a murder right off the bat.
Kessler’s family members, for their part, are pressing the police to investigate this as a hate crime. That’s more reasonable than a depiction of this as a murder, yet even that requires careful investigation. A common misconception is that hate crimes attach automatically if the victim is of a minority group, but they do not. This may have been a crime born of hate or it could have been the result of a scuffle (or something else besides). Moreover, no hate crime should attach if the death is accidental. I understand the family’s position—in the current climate, tensions are heightened and the atmosphere is charged—and so an investigation is warranted. This would presumably be undertaken along with the rest of the investigation as a widening in scope.
But, second, I want particularly to focus on how representatives of the community reacted. In an interview with KCAL News, Rabbi Noah Farkas of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles (JFGLA) said,
“We live in a country that ensconces the right to speak up, and if you insinuate that there might be violence against someone who speaks up, it creates that chilling effect. Then we have to ask questions: what kind of country do we live in where free speech is impossible? People who are pro-Palestinian, people who care about what’s happening from that side have every right to say what they want to say, but they also have to face the consequences for that. Just like when someone speaks out and expresses their Jewish pride, we should be able to do so.”
In the context in which he spoke, “face the consequences” takes on a somewhat tinged tone. What would have been magnanimous and may have quelled tensions would have been a statement that we all should be able to say what we feel and that we all should be protected when we do so. But in his effort to punish the protestors (for holding a protest?) Rabbi Farkas seems to subtly encourage retribution, for someone to administer “the consequences.”* This is unfortunate.
This was reinforced by the statement released by Kessler’s rabbi, Moshe Bryski. Again, everyone grieves in their own way, and I can only imagine how raw the family must feel right now. None of this was expected—the shock must be compounding their grief. The rabbi’s statement, however, was retributive. “Demonstrations of hate have consequences,” Rabbi Bryski said.
JFGLA issued a statement demanding safety—again, entirely understandable. Yet the statement was in the context of being targeted and of a sense that the wider community harbored elements of predation. Again, this presumes that Kessler was singled out for his background. We don’t know that; however, the presupposition tends to lead us to us-versus-them thinking. It’s especially at a time when a situation is polarized that community leaders need to stress the unity in a community, the fact that fundamentally we are the same and that we need to come together.
I agree that no one should feel unsafe to walk among their community, to express what’s in their hearts and to engage one another in respectful interaction. We should all strive for this, even and especially when times are tense. We can break through barriers only by joint action and discussion.
We should support the Jewish community as they go through this time of tribulation. We should also look for ways to bring people together and to support of all who wish to speak at this time.
My condolences go out to the family of the man who passed away and to all of the residents of Thousand Oaks. Rather than this becoming a flashpoint, I hope sincerely that the community there can honor Kessler’s memory by forging new bonds and by mending.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department held a press conference this morning, which is below.
* I want to thank Colorado Blue for bringing up that Rabbi Farkas spoke at a press conference this morning where he amended his comments from the KCAL interview the night before. Jewish Telegraphic Agency quoted Farkas as saying, “The last thing that anyone should want is for Jews in the community to take matters into their own hands and commit some kind of reprisal.” This is a good sign.