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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Two men were charged today with a hate crime attack outside a Beverly Grove-area restaurant in May.
Samer Jayylusi, 36, of Whittier, and Xavier Pabon, 30, of Banning, are each facing two felony counts of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
The criminal complaint includes a hate crime allegation.
Jayylusi was set to be arraigned Tuesday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, while Pabon was due in court Thursday for arraignment.
The two were allegedly part of a caravan waving Palestinian flags in the 300 block of North La Cienega Boulevard on May 18, hours after a large protest in support of Palestinian rights amid violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Jayylusi and Pabon are accused of approaching two men outside a restaurant and attacking them because of their religion, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Cell phone video showed a group of men exit a car and begin to attack the diners while yelling racial slurs.
Mayor Eric Garcetti characterized what happened as an “organized, anti-Semitic attack.''
Police said one minor injury was reported.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore said the attack at the restaurant “appeared to spring from a roving band of vehicles that were seen flying flags within the Jewish-populated areas of Hollywood, West L.A., Mid-Wilshire, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills.''
He said police are still searching for two more people believed to have taken part in the restaurant attack.
“We have a substantial amount of video evidence as well as additional clues and tips coming in, as well as the fruits of the arrests of these two individuals,'' the police chief said at the time.
Pabon was arrested May 21 by Los Angeles police, while Jayylusi was arrested four days later.
Both men were subsequently freed on bond.
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