A federal grand jury indicted Zaid Gitesatani, 28, of Carlsbad, California, on May 5, 2026, charging him with one count of a hate crime for allegedly punching a Jewish man in the jaw from behind near the Adas Torah Synagogue in Los Angeles' Pico-Robertson neighborhood [1]. Gitesatani was arrested on May 18, 2026, following the indictment [1].
According to the Department of Justice, Gitesatani traveled to Los Angeles to participate in a pro-Palestinian protest held outside a real estate event that promoted land sales in Israel [1]. The alleged assault occurred near the synagogue, which served as a gathering point in connection with that event [1]. The charge is brought under federal hate crime statutes, which criminalize bodily injury, or attempts to cause such injury, motivated by the victim's religion, national origin, or other protected characteristics. The Civil Rights Division is prosecuting the case, with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon leading that division [1].
The Pico-Robertson neighborhood has been the site of repeated protest activity tied to the Israel-Gaza conflict. The Adas Torah incident drew significant public attention in 2024, when demonstrators blocked access to the synagogue during a separate real estate event, prompting allegations of obstruction and harassment directed at Jewish community members. The current federal prosecution addresses an alleged act of physical violence arising from a subsequent, related protest context.
The case now moves to the pretrial phase in federal court in the Central District of California. Gitesatani faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison if convicted on the hate crime count. No trial date has been publicly announced. The DOJ's Civil Rights Division has signaled ongoing attention to antisemitic incidents in the context of protest activity, and this indictment represents one of the more prominent federal hate crime charges to emerge from the wave of demonstrations following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel [1].