Lyft Passenger Recounts Assault in Antisemitic Hate Crime Trial

A Lyft passenger on Monday testified during the first day of a federal hate crime trial that his driver at the San Francisco International Airport asked him if he was Jewish or Israeli before punching him in the face.

The passenger, identified in the indictment as S.B., a Google employee returning home to after a work trip, was struck in the side of the face by Csabas John Csukás at the airport ride-share pick up zone in late October 2023. This was weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel triggered a war in Gaza and sparked widespread protests in ...