Jewish groups denounced a sentence of two years of probation and time served for a man convicted of attacking a Jew in San Francisco as a slap on the wrist that fails to dissuade would-be attackers.
A spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office told JNS that Juan Diaz-Rivas was convicted of “assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury” and admitted to committing a hate crime for his involvement in an attack in June, in which about half a dozen people cursed at Jews and said “free Palestine.”
A male victim and his female friend told the group to stop. Members of the group pursued the man and punched and kicked him. They also attacked a witness, who worked at a nearby business and sought to intervene.
“He served 83 days in custody and was sentenced to an additional two years of formal probation, 80 hours of community service and 16 sessions of anger management,” the district attorney’s spokesman told JNS. “In addition, he must stay away from the victim and write an apology letter.”
The victim was made aware of the sentencing and had the chance to address it in court, the spokesman said. A second person was arrested in connection with the assault, per the district attorney’s office.
“We realize that there are additional suspects yet to be identified in connection to this incident, but if they are identified and arrested, this office will not hesitate to take action,” the spokesman said.
Gerard Filitti, senior counsel of the Lawfare Project, told JNS that the sentence is “far too lenient for an antisemitic gang attack.”
“Violence motivated by hate is the most dangerous kind. It targets entire communities, not just individuals,” he told JNS. “When our justice system fails to impose real consequences, and when open support for terrorism is tolerated in our streets and on our campuses, it only invites more violence.”
“Until hate is punished with the full force of the law, the justice system itself remains complicit,” Filitti said.
Marc Levine, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Central Pacific Region, told JNS that the group is “relieved to see accountability in this deeply troubling antisemitic assault and commend law enforcement for their work in bringing charges.”
“However, a sentence of time served and two years’ probation for a violent group attack, where a woman bystander was assaulted amid antisemitic slurs, does not reflect the gravity of this hate-fueled crime,” Levine said. “Antisemitic violence has no place in San Francisco or anywhere, and our justice system must treat these crimes with the seriousness they demand.”
Vladislav Khaykin, executive vice president of social impact and North American partnerships at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told JNS that the sentence is “exceedingly light given the severity of the assault and raises serious questions about how hate crimes are being prosecuted in San Francisco.”
“The attacker admitted that his actions were driven by hate, and when someone is targeted because of who they are, the harm extends far beyond the individual victim,” Khaykin said.
“Such crimes are supposed to carry penalty enhancements precisely for that reason,” he told JNS. “Even without that enhancement, the brutality of this attack warranted a far more serious sentence.”
Khaykin added that it “is appalling that the court chose to put a violent antisemite back on the street with time served, exposing the Jewish community to further potential harm.”
“When violent hate crimes receive lenient punishment, it sends a dangerous message that our city is permissive of antisemitic violence,” he said.
Jeremy Russell, director of marketing and communications for the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, called the attack “one of the most brutal instances of antisemitism in San Francisco in recent memory.”
Russell told JNS that Brooke Jenkins, the San Francisco district attorney, prosecuted the case “with utmost seriousness.”
“We hope this conviction will serve as a deterrent of future violence,” he said. “Such hate has no place in the Bay Area.”
