Riots in Los Angeles, California
Riots in Los Angeles, CaliforniaREUTERS/Kyle Grillot

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that two men were charged today for an assault outside a sushi restaurant earlier this year.

“A hate crime is a crime against all of us,” District Attorney Gascón said. “My office is committed to doing all we can to make Los Angeles County a place where our diversity is embraced and protected.”

Xavier Pabon, 31, and Samer Jayylusi, 36, were each charged with two felony counts of assault by means of force likely to cause great bodily injury, the District Attorney's office said in a statement. The criminal complaint also includes a hate crime allegation.

Jayylusi was expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Department 30 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Pabon’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in the same courtroom.

On May 18, the two defendants were allegedly part of a caravan who were driving in the 300 block of N. La Cienega Boulevard in Los Angeles. The defendants are accused of approaching two men outside of a restaurant and attacking them because of their religion.

In the attack, diners were eating at outdoor tables when an anti-Israel caravan stopped and its members threw bottles at the diners, chanting, "Death to the Jews," and "Free Palestine."

The men then exited their vehicles and began asking who was Jewish, with a brawl erupting when two of the diners said they were Jews.

The attack has been linked to the Gaza-Israel war which occurred earlier this year, in which Hamas fired barrages of missiles at Israeli civilians, while Israel worked to eradicate Hamas' military infrastructure.

The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.