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The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office has issued an updated statement regarding the investigation of the Jewish man who died during a protest in Thousand Oaks this past week.
Paul Kessler, 69, died early Monday at a hospital after falling backward and striking his head on the ground during a suspected altercation with a pro-Palestinian protestor Sunday afternoon.
Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff held a press conference on Tuesday to share the details of their investigation, answer questions from the press, and ask the community to provide any relevant information or footage from the protest.
Questions and safety concerns increased as both Jewish and Arab communities expressed their fear of escalating tension.
On Thursday evening, the Sheriff’s Office released a lengthy statement to provide additional information and clarification.
In an earlier press conference the department stated Kessler’s death was being classified as a homicide based a ruling by the County’s Chief Medical Examiner, which prompted questions about detaining suspects who may have been responsible.
The Sheriff Office clarified that a homicide determination from the medical examiner does not translate to a prosecutable murder or manslaughter (gross, voluntary, or involuntary) case, rather it establishes that Kessler’s death was not from natural causes, suicide, or unknown.
“His death being ruled a homicide simply means his death was caused at the hands of another. This determination, in and of itself, does not provide sufficient evidence to establish probable cause for an immediate arrest of a suspect. The determination, though helpful to the subsequent criminal investigation, does not provide our investigators with the required probable cause to make an arrest and obtain a criminal filing from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office,” the Sheriff’s Office stated.
The department confirmed their investigators are “working around the clock to track down leads, scrutinize electronic data, and corroborate witness statements.”
While investigators have obtained photos and videos prior to and following the incident, they do not have any footage of the actual incident taking place. This would be “extremely helpful in this case and would undoubtedly show or could even refute criminal culpability,” the department stated.
The Sheriff’s Office has received numerous questions as to why there have been no arrests or prosecution.
“To be clear, law enforcement officers do not prosecute criminal cases, rather we investigate them, and we obtain evidence with the goal of obtaining enough evidence to establish probable cause so an arrest can be made. Prosecution lies in the hands of the District Attorney’s Office. When law enforcement has enough probable cause to make an arrest and have the District Attorney file charges, it means they have objective evidence that indicates the suspect’s responsibility for the crime. Probable cause is a requirement found in the Fourth Amendment that must be met before the police make an arrest,” the Sheriff’s Office stated.
The statement reiterated that while investigators received multiple witness statements, many of them conflicted one another.
“Conflicting statements from multiple witnesses can make it difficult to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. Witnesses with conflicting statements impair witness credibility, create reasonable doubt, cause unreliable testimony, and strain a prosecutor’s ability to prove a case,” the department stated.
The Sheriff’s Office also focused on the safety concerns stating they are increasing patrols and presence at places of worship, but clarified they have no intelligence of any specific or credible threats against a particular community.
Regarding protests in general, the Sheriff’s Office stated the First Amendment protects the right to assemble and express views through protest.
“Any law enforcement response to a mass gathering (including protests) must be measured and proportionate and ensure steps are taken to avoid heightening tensions and making the situation worse with our presence. We understand many may feel that inserting ourselves (uniformed law enforcement) into these gatherings will keep things calm, but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes our mere presence can antagonize the situation and create unnecessary conflict. Therefore, we must navigate through this with extreme caution and evaluate on a case-by-case basis,” the department stated.
The department expressed sympathy for Kessler’s family, friends, and community and acknowledged the public’s concern that this incident has not just affected the local community, rather it is far-reaching and has gained worldwide attention.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office continues to ask for help from the public regarding this ongoing investigation. Anyone who witnessed or has knowledge of the incident, or who was present at the demonstration is encouraged to contact Detective Stump at (805) 384-4745.
If there are any witnesses who may have been driving a vehicle in and around the area during the time of the incident who were operating vehicles that are equipped with video recording capabilities, such as Teslas, they are encouraged to reach out to investigators or utilize the link provided below to download and submit any relevant footage.
If you prefer to remain anonymous you may contact Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477). Those who wish to share video or pictures of the incident can do so and can remain anonymous by using the following link: https://venturasheriffca.
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November 7, 2023: Jewish Man Dies at Thousand Oaks Protest, Ventura Sheriff Investigating
Can’t imagine how difficult this is for investigators. With conflicting information and intense pressure, I applaud them taking a measured approach.
With that said, those who were involved in whatever happened, need to come forward and come clean. It sounds like one person did, but there were likely others involved too.
Said another way, sounds like someone is lying to investigators.
I hope, for the sake of all parties involved, this is resolved one way or another. I’ve seen many comments online about the events, stating them as facts, but clearly they’re not. It’s unfortunate to see so many (usually right wing) news outlets include unfounded facts in their headlines. This may very well be an accident.
What was not an accident though and both very much hate crimes, was the stabbing of a 6 year old Muslim boy and the hit and run last week at Stanford of an Arab-American young man, while the driver yelled “**** you and your people!”
It’s sad to see so much violence on both sides of this.
General Tree – Define “crushed like insects.”
That is a funny thing for someone who is “really crushed” to say.
“Hamas was shoving babies in ovens for F’s sake”
This is an example of what sacjon referred to about stating things as facts when they have not been established as facts. And I’m not saying that Hamas did not do this–I don’t know whether they did, and neither do you:
https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/56224/did-hamas-bake-a-baby-to-death-in-an-oven
Nor am I defending Hamas–it’s a terrorist organization and the Oct 7 attack is more than enough to condemn it.
OTOH, the vile Hamas attack is being exploited by the criminal State of Israel and its supporters to justify its war crimes and to demonize all Palestinians and those who support their human rights. While the onslaught against Gaza is retribution and collective punishment–half the population of Gaza are children who were not even born when Hamas was voted in 17 years ago–it’s not just that. Israel has designs on Gaza–it wishes to remove the population and reoccupy the land. And Israel has run an incredibly effective campaign to conflate “Palestinian” with “Hamas”, largely through the false accusation that the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, which has been used for decades by ALL Palestinian liberation organizations and supporters, is specifically a Hamas slogan and is genocidal and antisemitic, none of which is true. The result of this successful PR campaign has been the censure of the only Palestinian in Congress, the banning of Palestinian rights groups and even Jewish Voices for Peace from college campuses, and confrontations and attacks on people protesting in favor of Palestinian rights and an end to their slaughter, with such tragic consequences as the death of Paul Kessler.
https://jewishcurrents.org/what-does-from-the-river-to-the-sea-really-mean
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_river_to_the_sea
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/jewish-left-israel-protests/
https://www.theonion.com/house-votes-to-censure-66-of-americans-for-antisemitic-1851006017
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/opinion/israel-gaza-genocide-war.html
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza
https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2023/11/an-open-letter-from-jewish-students
https://twitter.com/_ZachFoster/status/1721882063102525854
https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1720201484686516251
https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/a-dangerous-conflation/
https://x.com/equalityAlec/status/1720439678497685956
https://x.com/michael_david41/status/1720166913446412640
https://x.com/HotSpotHotSpot/status/1719357367022735538
https://x.com/democracynow/status/1720063094922047955
https://x.com/subjectiveviews/status/1719556903074668642
https://x.com/qalamaursyahi/status/1712144284743311720
https://x.com/haaretzcom/status/1723124628468707647
https://x.com/heavyredaction/status/1723143644033753321
https://x.com/equalityAlec/status/1723041198015684878
https://x.com/palinfoen/status/1718545356370092171
Yeah, I mean, look at the black and white facts:
1. MULTIPLE instances of war crimes have been documented beyond question.
2. Three hundred and fifty thousand civilians have been killed.
3. Over fourteen million people have been forced from their homes.
Oh, wait, that’s Syria under Assad and it’s still happening. But Arab on Arab killings are so uninteresting. It’s so much more exciting when it’s an Israeli killing a Palestinian.
That’s really the only time the Arab states and the trend following white people who still can’t find Gaza on a map can get really excited.
ALEX – let’s try to avoid whatabouts, that’s VOICE’s job.
But, since you opened the can……Is America supporting and arming, sending billions of dollars in weapons to only one side in Syria? It’s not honestly comparable.
Aside from the blatant war crimes and disproportionate civilian deaths, the US complicity in and support of targeting civilian infrastructure and not speaking out or seriously criticizing Netanyahu is what us “white people” are upset about. No need to make a jab at the intelligence of those who are upset about what Israel is doing.
Sure, and my point is that Arab misery, oppression and death only seems to be meaningful when it is at Israeli hands.
There are a lot of people who hate Israel (and, yes, Jewish people, because the Anti-Semites are gleefully tagging along on this ride) far more than they love Palestinians.
Example one–the majority of the Arab world’s leadership.
So yeah, it’s a little thing called hypocrisy. If you look at how Jordan and Egypt have historically treated these people…until there was some geopolitical benefit to make empty gestures, I think you might get my point.
You didn’t read and certainly didn’t respond to my material. I used to respect you … no longer.
I’ve read plenty widely on the topic. I read one of the pieces, the one by the Palestinian gentleman attempting to define and justify the phrase “From the River to the Sea.” and that’s as far as I’ve gotten because the bias of the piece was so ridiculous.
Look–this may not even be conscious on your part, but you and many, many other people are trying to gaslight Jewish people on some really important issues.
First, “from the river to the sea” is a phrase which is ambiguous and has been used by people who want to literally kill every Jew in the Middle East. Period. Full stop. And it’s not the same as a couple thousand White Supremacists in the US having that desire because there are millions of people in the Middle East who would make that a reality if they could and who have the numbers and combined military might to make it possible.
You know this. If you aren’t willing to be honest about the rampant anti-semitism, ethnic cleansing and murder of the Jewish people throughout the Middle East, then you have zero credibility. If you aren’t willing to face what that phrase can easily and often means, then you are part of a serious problem.
If you replace “Palestine” with Israel, i.e., From the River to the Sea, Israel will be free” and that was being chanted by Jewish people, Israelis, Settlers then there is zero fucking doubt in my mind how you would interpret it. So miss me with that.
Second, you entirely overstate the real world censoring of Palestinian voices and opinions. Pro-Palestinian marchers are gathering in the hundreds of thousands around the world. Social Media is flooded with Pro-Palestinian opinions. Etc., etc.. So you want to try and portray those who support the Palestinian cause as somehow being silenced and that is patently false.
You should take a hard look at exactly what you are saying and how you may be taken for a ride by a wave of uninformed opinion tainted by a significant undercurrent of Anti-Semitism.
As to your respect? I don’t know you, you don’t know me, so your opinion of who you think I’m is meaningless to me.
Sac – You’re speculating.
“What was not an accident though” leads one to believe you would call this incident accidental.
Which is far from the proven truth and all evidence released so far actually indicates it was in fact not accidental.
Whether or not the person involved meant for Kessler to die that does not make the potential altercation accidental.
Is there a reason that instead of commenting on the relevant post, you are choosing to try to bash the right?
SBTONER – ok though, giving you the benefit of the doubt, so I’ll respond here.
“Which is far from the proven truth and all evidence released so far actually indicates it was in fact not accidental.” – What facts have you seen about this? The only facts that seem to be acknowledged are that he fell and hit his head after an “altercation.” Someone said he was hit with a megaphone, others deny that. There’s no video evidence of what happened prior to him falling. The death itself seems “accidental” given the person he was arguing with, called 911 and stayed there to help, hardly the actions of someone who was intentionally trying to kill someone. The altercation itself was intentional, but we don’t know who started it. Some say Kessler was approached by the protester, but photos of the 1st responders, show Kessler on the side of the street where the Pro-Palestinians were standing. All accounts of this are conflicting, but I (nor the police) haven’t seen anything to suggest this was an intentional killing. That’s why I implied it may have been accidental.
So, where’s the response to the comment I made about the intentional killing and attacks on Arabs?
Sac – I didn’t respond to that comment because that had nothing to do with the article. Was that in a neighboring county? Where did that happen? Where is that mentioned in this piece?
There is absolutely no indication this was an accident and you drawing ire about other things that were non accidental while downplaying the potential that this was a homicide by a (likely liberal) pro Palestinian protestor detracts from the discussion being about this piece.
It’s a total “whattabout” like you always accuse others of.
Do you think it’s different somehow?
I commented on this article, yet raised other relevant incidents as well. It’s not like I dodged the issue and brought up something new – that would have been whatabout.
It does have something to do with it. These are all instances of violence stemming from the conflict. And no, not in a neighboring country – in Chicago a 6 year old was stabbed while he and his mother were attacked by their racist landlord. Last week at Stanford University (that’s in CA, USA), an Arab American young man was hit by a car, with the driver yelling “* your people.” The FBI has said numerous times, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic violence have been steadily increasing since this started. It’s mentioned pretty often in the news. It’s not in “neighboring countries,” either.
As for this incident, there’s plenty “indications” this was not an intentional murder, you’re just not reading unbiased news sources. So what if the protestor was liberal? Why even bring that up? I’ll wait for the police to finish their investigation, but to say this was intentional just seems counter to the few facts involved.
You conveniently bring up only non-Arab on Arab crimes but in your comment rationalize that there is also Antisemitism at play?
I’m only reading this as my news source. Not external sources. From the facts present in the article the man who died was involved in a physical altercation with a pro Palestinian protestor.
Say what you will but crimes against Arab people have nothing to do with this areticle unless you are trying to rationalize the potential violence that took place.
I appreciate you not calling me a troll today, by the way.
Well, it’s been pretty well established by most of your recent comments, so need to restate the obvious.
Why respond then if you still feel that way?
Because you’ve actually managed a couple comments that were not rife with insults, lies or assumptions. You made a valid point and I responded. That’s how this is supposed to work. Be great to keep it like that.
It would be great. I will try harder to keep it that way
Truth hurts
“You conveniently bring up only non-Arab on Arab crimes but in your comment rationalize that there is also Antisemitism at play?” – Yes, there have been increased Islamophobic and Anti-Semitic crimes. How is that unclear or problematic for you? I brought those other instances up as they’re not all over the news like this was.
“From the facts present in the article the man who died was involved in a physical altercation with a pro Palestinian protestor.” – Which facts? The only thing that is established fact is that he fell and hit his head. It’s absolutely tragic, but it doesn’t mean it was done intentionally – ie, he was pushed, or hit so he fell, etc. Could be he tripped and fell as he was involved in the apparently vocal confrontation. Maybe he pushed first and the “liberal” pushed back and he fell. Might be right, the pro Palestinian hit him with a megaphone. Who knows? The cops don’t. Again, I’m just pointing out that there aren’t enough facts yet. Like I said, some say he was physically attacked, some even say the Palestinian supporter who tried to help him just wanted to get his blood on her and then walked away laughing based solely on a photo of her smiling at some point that day. The internet is FILLED with hatred and lies. We can’t allow ourselves to fan the flames of hate with lies or even unconfirmed facts. These are sensitive and angry times. No one has been able to come forward with a straight story on this. It sucks. I feel terrible for this man’s family, but anger can’t give way to emotion.
“Say what you will but crimes against Arab people have nothing to do with this areticle” – maybe not this specific instance, but they very much have something to do with the anger and violence on both sides of this issue.
My point from day one has been that this is a TWO SIDED issue, with violence here and abroad on BOTH SIDES.