Prosecutors chose not to charge hate crime allegations in the case of a trio accused of attacking two Hebrew-speaking men at San Jose’s Santana Row earlier this month that prompted a response from Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The three suspects — 32-year-old Bruneil Henry Chamaki, 20-year old Ramon Akoyans and 18-year-old Roma Akoyans — turned themselves in to the San Jose Police Department on Monday, more than a week after they allegedly attacked two men who were speaking Hebrew while waiting for a table outside Cafe Augustine on Feb. 8.
The men each face felony assault charges in the case that Newsom called “disgusting” on X.
Chamaki, a Morgan Hill resident, faces an additional misdemeanor battery charge. The three were expected to be arraigned on the charges in May, and Santa Clara County prosecutors did not clarify why the arraignment would be held nearly two months after their arrests.
The daytime attack, captured on video by onlookers, raised concerns among the Jewish community after witnesses and victims reported that the suspects allegedly used antisemitic language during the violent encounter.
According to police reports, the victims were speaking Hebrew to each other when the group of male suspects stopped to look at them and began attacking them, saying: “F— Jews.” A witness stated the suspects yelled something akin to, “Don’t f— with Iran!”
Witnesses said the men were believed to have been speaking Farsi during the incident.
Chamaki was listed as a corporate attorney, and records show he was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2023. Postings about him online by a law firm he worked for appeared to be taken down Monday.
The incident occurred just days before a Lebanese-born man who lost four of his family members in an Israeli airstrike rammed his car into a Michigan synagogue where dozens of children were inside.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who days after the attack said “Antisemitism and all acts of hatred have no place in San Jose,” did not publicly comment on prosecutors’ charging decision.
Neither Mahan nor officials for the San Jose Police Department, which had described the assault as a hate crime, responded to requests for comment.
Both victims received medical treatment from the San Jose Fire Department for cuts and head pain but refused to go to the hospital.