Man dies after being hit in the head at protest sparked by Israel-Hamas war

A 69-year-old man died Monday after suffering a head injury at a Westlake Village protest centered on the Israel-Hamas war, according to law enforcement.

The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office said an autopsy determined Paul Kessler died as a result of a blunt force head injury.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said the incident was reported just after 3:20 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Westlake Boulevard and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, near the L.A. County border. Opposing protesters — pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian — had taken a stand on either side of the intersection when an altercation occurred, authorities said.

Kessler, of Thousand Oaks, was struck in the head, knocked backward and hit his head on the ground, deputies said.

Other news reports said that Kessler was struck in the head with a megaphone and fell, hitting his head on the concrete sidewalk causing a brain bleed.

This is the same chain of events that causes so many of the one punch kills that I cover on this blog.

Jews have been harassed and attacked by Hamas supporters in the US since 10/7, but this is the first confirmed fatality.

What happens next will be a defining moment.

Will they hunt down and throw the book at the suspect?

Or, will they make a half-assed attempt to find him and then waffle on the punishment, all while telling us that Islamophobia is the real problem?

Being California, I suspect the latter.

These mid-level violence Pogroms just elevated to equal force.

The threat is real, Jews need to understand that and prepare accordingly.