FIRST ON FOX – Members of a synagogue in Los Angeles have filed a lawsuit against three major protest groups for organizing a “riot” that “violently blocked Jews” from their place of worship last month.
“This was a modern-day pogrom, quite literally an afternoon of broken glass targeting Jewish families on their way to exercise their religious freedom at a house of worship,” Carly Gammill, Director of the StandWithUs Center for Legal Justice (SCLJ), said in a press release.
“The organizers of this antisemitic riot need to learn they cannot use violence and intimidation to deprive Jews of their First Amendment rights – and that we are here to help the Jewish community ensure that our laws are enforced to their fullest extent,” Gamill added.
The SCLJ filed the lawsuit against CodePink, Palestinian Youth Movement and WESPAC Foundation on behalf of seven members of the Adas Torah synagogue, where a protest occurred on June 23. The lawsuit accuses the groups of threatening and intimidating persons (multiple counts) and is seeking damages of around $5,000 for each violation as well as “appropriate punitive damages.”
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The lawsuit alleges that the protests went too far and tipped into violence and rioting, citing the use of bear spray and images of members left bloody after the protest.
An armed private security guard at the front doors of the Adas Torah synagogue on Monday, June 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. President Joe Biden has denounced violence that flared when opponents of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza staged a protest at the synagogue during the weekend. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (AP)
“Deplorably, these images also are no longer surprising,” the lawsuit asserts. “Indeed, they are emblematic of an increasingly common occurrence: Organized riots that violently target the American Jewish community.”
At least one person was arrested after the protesters allegedly tried to physically block the building entrance and harassed and intimidated those trying to enter the synagogue. President Biden took to social media platform X to condemn the incident.
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“I’m appalled by the scenes outside of Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles. Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic and un-American,” Biden wrote.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and the Los Angeles Police Department have taken heat from protesters on both sides for not preventing the demonstration from escalating.
Police in riot gear are seen trying to restore order to the scene of a violent altercation between supporters of Israel and Palestine outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)
“It was shocking to witness pro-Hamas thugs shut down a synagogue and assault Jews in the streets,” one of the plaintiffs told Fox News Digital on condition of anonymity. “This isn’t the America I know and love.”
“Since it appears there will be no other consequences for these criminals, we decided to seek consequences via the legal system,” the plaintiff added. “We shouldn’t have to do this — but since Los Angeles law enforcement failed to produce results, we decided to act.”
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The SCLJ argued that the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act should come into effect, as it “imposes civil and criminal penalties on any person who ‘by force or threat of force or by physical obstruction, intentionally injures, intimidates or interferes with or attempts to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.’”
“The evidence is overwhelming that these groups maliciously organized more than 200 people to deprive Jewish citizens of their First Amendment right to freedom of religion using violence and intimidation,” Mark Goldfeder, Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center said in a press release about the lawsuit.
Supporters of Israel face off with pro-Palestinian protesters blocking access to the Adas Torah Orthodox Jewish synagogue, in Los Angeles, June 23, 2024. (Photo by David Swanson/AFP via Getty Images)
“That’s more than 200 clear-cut violations of federal law and more than 200 clear-cut violations of state law,” Goldfeder wrote. “Those responsible for violently stopping Jewish people from entering their house of worship should face steep consequences.”
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The lawsuit details past comments made by organizers from each group, such as one PYM organizer who “celebrated the terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023 while speaking on a panel” or alleging that members of CodePink attended a conference in Iran with Holocaust deniers and met with Hamas officials “several times.”
CodePink said the group does not comment on ongoing lawsuits, while PYM and WESPAC did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by time of publication. The Los Angeles mayor’s office also did not respond by time of publication.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.