Witness: Jewish Man Who Died at Protest 'Stalked'

Paul Kessler, the Jewish man who died after being struck during a reported confrontation during pro-Israel and pro-Palestine protests, was "stalked" by his alleged attacker, according to a witness.

Jonathan Oswaks, who witnessed the incident, told the Jewish Journal this week that he and Kessler met online a few weeks ago when they decided to counterprotest a pro-Palestinian protest. He said that one protester, who was wearing a mask and hood, pushed him, flashed a gun at him, and later followed them.

Oswaks said that he and Kessler planned another counterprotest at a pro-Palestinian protest. Oswaks said that before the protest took place, while he and Kessler were sitting at a fountain near the planned location, he received a call from a friend who warned him that he had seen Oswaks' face on social media and they were "being watched."

Oswaks said he saw three men sitting near them and claimed that "one of those men I recognize as the murderer. The other man was an extreme agitator. The other fellow was just a young fellow, I couldn't tell much about him."

Oswaks added: "It wasn't long before the men that were videoing me and Paul stood behind me … with a megaphone in my ear, exactly the way [Kessler] told me it was gonna happen," 

Oswaks said he told the men: "Get that f****ing thing out of my ear. Back up," before the man holding the megaphone asked if he wanted food or water.

Oswaks said he told the man: "I don't want a f****ing thing from you except space. Get back."

"He crossed the street because, as I said, he stalked us," Oswaks said. "He got nowhere with the bigger guy, so he went for the smaller guy. He came over here with the megaphone in his hand to do the same thing."

Oswaks said that he "could hear the noise starting" from across the street.

"Then all of a sudden, I see a punch," he said. "The reason I know I could see the punch was because it was the white megaphone flying through the air."

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