Suspects tied to Santana Row brawl won’t face hate crime charges

Three men who were arrested earlier this year on suspicion of a violent assault outside a Santana Row restaurant are not facing hate crime charges, despite calls from Jewish organizations to pursue them. 

Read more Newsom celebrates as the AI boom bails out California

The suspects were accused of using antisemitic language while they allegedly got into an altercation with two other men on the 300 block of Santana Row in San Jose on March 8, SFGATE previously reported. All three suspects appeared in court for the first time on Wednesday in San Jose, but they were not required to enter pleas, O’Bryan Kenney, a deputy district attorney prosecuting the case, told SFGATE. The men are each charged with felony assault, and there is no hate crime allegation from the DA’s office, he said. 

“The information and evidence we have uncovered, upon a thorough investigation, does not support filing a hate crime allegation.  This will not deter us from establishing the intent and motive behind this attack,” Kenney said in an email Thursday. 

A video of the assault showed three men repeatedly punching and kicking two men to the ground on the restaurant’s outdoor patio. The two men, who are Israeli American, were said by an account that posted the video to have been reportedly speaking to each other in Hebrew before they were attacked, prompting the hate crime allegations. 

Attorney Sam Polverino, who is representing one of the suspects, told Bay Area News Group Wednesday that he believes it was appropriate for the DA’s office to not file hate crime charges. 

“A lot has been made of the last four seconds of a video, without seeing the entire video, or knowing all the facts in the case. And I think a lot of folks have jumped to conclusions,” Polverino told the news outlet. 

Read more ‘The infestation is here’: Another Calif. county declares emergency over species

Polverino did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment. 

Several days after the assault, the three men suspected of the attack surrendered to law enforcement. The initial charging paperwork for the men, viewed by SFGATE, showed that the suspects faced a $35,000 bond.

According to the DA’s office March 16, the altercation was “between strangers.” Bay Area Jewish Coalition and Jewish Silicon Valley, which both previously commented on this case, did not respond to SFGATE’s request for new comment. 

The three men are set to appear in court next on July 23, according to Kenney.