#simon moradzadeh

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Mike LaChance

In the spring of 2021, long before the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7th, pro-Palestinian activists attacked Jewish diners outside of a Los Angeles restaurant. The assailants were part of a caravan of vehicles, with members screaming anti-Israel rhetoric through a megaphone.

We covered this incident when it happened:

As the sacred Jewish holiday of Shavuot came to a close early this week, shocking footage surfaced on social media of what appears to be an anti-Israel gang’s vicious attack on Jews having dinner outdoors in Los Angeles…. The Jewish victims of the attack are reportedly members of the robust Persian-Jewish community that calls Los Angeles home; witnesses say the attackers targeted them as they paraded through the heavily Jewish area (on foot and in cars), moving from group to group asking who was Jewish. Some clips show the caravan of anti-Israel protesters driving through the neighborhood screaming into megaphones at Jewish passersby.

Watch below:

The highest court in Los Angeles has now sided with the victims.

Glaser Weil reports:

Los Angeles Superior Court Awards $1.6 Million in Damages to Victim of Hate Crime in Antisemitic Sushi Fumi Restaurant Attack A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge has ordered two protestors to pay more than $1.6 million in damages to hate crime victim, Mher Hagopian, who was assaulted in a now-infamous Antisemitic attack outside the Sushi Fumi restaurant in Los Angeles. In a horrifying video from the May 2021 incident, a group of people in a caravan of cars are shown yelling and chanting antisemitic profanities while flying Palestinian flags. According to a witness, the group began throwing bottles and other items at diners as they were sitting outdoors eating dinner at Sushi Fumi. The video then depicts about eight people, most dressed in black, converging on the diners. An assault ensued and the fight grew increasingly violent as it spilled onto the sidewalk. One man is shown to be pushed up against a car, punched and kicked. The hate crime case involved civil claims against two defendants. Glaser Weil Associate Simon Moradzadeh, alongside partners Patty Glaser and Julie Gerchik, represented Mr. Hagopian pro bono. Hagopian, who is not Jewish, protected his Jewish friends and other diners from the caravan of protestors who attacked them. In the process of protecting the Jewish diners, Hagopian was assaulted by the mob—including the defendants—resulting in severe physical and emotional harm. The $1.6 million in punitive damages was awarded due to the overwhelming evidence demonstrating the outrageous nature of the antisemitic attack, including explicitly anti-Jewish hate speech captured via text messages. Two such texts say, “I never got to hit a Jew before so I’m Kinda Happy;” and “I need a blunt and then we go find Jews…”

This is a good reminder that we had a problem with this type of hate in the United States before October 7th. Of course, things have only gotten worse since then.