Lyft Driver Who Punched Jewish Rider Acquitted of Hate Crime

A Lyft driver who punched his Jewish and Israeli passenger at the San Francisco International Airport was acquitted of committing a federal hate crime by a federal jury on Wednesday.

The jury deliberated for about five hours before rendering the unanimous not guilty verdict for Csaba John Csukás, who struck the passenger, identified in the indictment as S.B., a Google employee returning home from a business trip, on the side of the face in late October 2023.

Federal prosecutors charged Csukás with violating the The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, alleging he was motivated by “anger and opportunity” to assault S.B.

They alleged that Csukás, who was assigned by Lyft to drive S.B., exited his vehicle at the airport ride-share pickup zone, asked S.B. whether he was Jewish and Israeli, and then punched him before fleeing the scene. The incident occurred weeks after the Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel triggered a war in Gaza and widespread protests in the US.

Prosecutors pointed to Csukás’ posts on Reddit and other social media sites as evidence of an antisemitic motivation.

The federal public defenders representing Csukás argued that he wasn’t motivated to assault S.B. because of his religion or national identity. They contested S.B.'s description of the incident, arguing that S.B. had insulted Csukás during their brief interaction at the passenger pickup zone which caused Csukás to throw the punch.

Csukás’ attorneys also argued that he was facing enormous financial and personal stress at the time, in part because his fiancé is Palestinian.

The final jury instructions from Judge William Orrick of the US District Court for the Northern District of California stated that in order for the jury to render a guilty verdict, they would need to determine that the assault wouldn’t have occurred but for S.B.'s actual or perceived religion or national origin.

US Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail J. Ramsey said in a statement: “We respect the jury’s verdict, and thank the jury for its consideration of the evidence the government presented in this case.”

Csukás faced a maximum of 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

The Federal Public Defender’s Office didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

The case is USA v. Csukás, N.D. Cal., No. 3:24-cr-00152, 10/30/24.