The U.S. Department of Justice has thrown its weight behind a Los Angeles Jewish man who says his civil rights were violated when violent anti-Israel protesters blocked access to a shul and attacked people heading to it in the city’s Pico-Robertson neighborhood, which has a large frum community. The DOJ’s filing is a “statement of interest” in a lawsuit filed by Ronen Helmann, alleges that members of CodePink, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and other groups sought to intimidate and threaten Jews outside the Adas Torah shul in June—actions that, if proven, would constitute a blatant violation of federal civil rights laws. The June 23 protest erupted as people arrived at Adas Torah for an event about making aliyah. What began as an anti-Israel demonstration quickly spiraled into a violent, hate-fueled attack. According to Helmann, masked individuals affiliated with the protest blocked entry to the shul while shouting “Slaughter the Jews” and “Hitler didn’t finish the job”—slogans eerily reminiscent of history’s darkest moments. Attendees of the aliyah event were not only subjected to verbal threats but also physical violence. One Jewish man had his nose broken in an attack, while a local woman attempting to enter the shul was sprayed with bear mace. The lawsuit argues that these actions violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which protects individuals exercising their religious rights, as well as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which prohibits masked individuals from conspiring to deprive U.S. citizens of their civil rights. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)