LAPD investigating attack on diners as possible Jewish hate crime

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a Tuesday night incident in which diners at a California restaurant were attacked as a possible Jewish hate crime.

According to a local CBS affiliate news outlet, a group of Jewish men who were dining at a restaurant in Los Angeles’ Beverly Grove neighborhood when they were allegedly attacked by multiple people waving pro-Palestinian flags.

The attackers reportedly arrived at the restaurant in a car and began to yell racial slurs at the men and throw bottles at them as they exited the vehicle.

One man, who was dining with the Jewish group, but is not Jewish, told CBSLA that he is a photographer who had met the group that night to plan a wedding.

The man also said he was pepper sprayed as he attempted to defend the group and was eventually taken to the hospital following the incident, the news outlet noted.

No arrests were made and no one involved sustained major injuries, LAPD told CBSLA.

The incident comes as Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues to escalate and deadly violence in the region increases. 

President Biden on Wednesday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he expects a “significant de-escalation” in the violence between Israel and Hamas to put the two sides “on the path to a ceasefire.”