A former Lyft driver was arrested and charged Wednesday with a federal hate crime for allegedly striking a passenger in the face on Oct. 26 at San Francisco International Airport after learning he was an Israeli Jew.
The victim is a tech worker and San Jose resident who asked J. not to name him out of concern for his safety. He was taken to the hospital the day of the attack, where he was treated for minor injuries.
Lyft responded to J.’s request for comment about three weeks after the incident, on Nov. 21, saying in a statement that it had been in contact with the victim and had removed the driver from the rideshare service.
“Lyft unequivocally condemns anti-semitism and all other forms of discrimination on the basis of religion or country of origin,” a company spokesperson said in an email.
“We have been in touch with the rider to extend our support and assistance, have permanently removed the driver’s account from the platform, and stand ready to assist law enforcement with any investigation,” the statement said.
The defendant is Csaba John Csukás, 39, of Daly City, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, based in San Francisco. J. obtained a photo of the suspect in the aftermath of the incident.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges that “when Csukás approached the victim at a predetermined pickup location, Csukás asked the victim if the victim was Jewish or Israeli, stated that he would not transport a Jewish or Israeli person, and attacked the victim by striking the victim in the face with his fist.”
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the charge in the release.
“The defendant, a rideshare driver, is charged with assaulting a rider because he thought the rider was Jewish or Israeli,” Garland said. “No one in this country should live in fear because of how they worship or where they come from. The Justice Department will aggressively prosecute those who perpetrate hate-fueled violence motivated by antisemitism or by bias of any kind.”
Csukás faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, the press release said. The investigation was led by the FBI’s San Francisco office.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, in the weeks following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel antisemitic incidents almost quadrupled, compared with the same period the previous year, with many incidents tied to the Israel-Hamas war.