Assault with a deadly weapon: 2nd suspect arrested in anti-Semitic attack in LA

Samer Jayylusi was arrested and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, a police statement said.

By Associated Press

Los Angeles police on Tuesday arrested a second suspect in an alleged assault by a pro-Palestinian group on Jewish men outside a restaurant last week.

Samer Jayylusi, 35, of Whittier was arrested in Anaheim and booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, a police statement said.

Jayylusi is considered one of the “primary suspects” in the assault on May 18 on La Cienega Boulevard, it said.

Police said the case will be presented to prosecutors for consideration of charges including hate crimes. It was not immediately known if Jayylusi has an attorney.

The first suspect arrested was a Banning man taken into custody late Friday and booked for investigation of assault with a deadly weapon.

Police also alleged that the crime was motivated by hatred when that arrest was announced Saturday.

The violence, recorded on video, occurred when a car caravan flying Palestinian flags stopped near a restaurant where diners were eating at outdoor tables.

Witnesses told news media that people in the caravan threw bottles and chanted “death to Jews” and “free Palestine,” and men got out of the vehicles and began asking who was Jewish. A brawl erupted when two diners said they were Jewish.

Civic and faith leaders have condemned the incident.