A YouTube provocateur was shot and injured in the leg by a security guard in front of the Etz Jacob synagogue / Ohel Chana girls High School building in Los Angles Thursday.The school told parents that she was shot after “canvassing” around the property and confronting the security guard, JTA reported.
Zhoie Perez, a 45-year-old self-described transgender activist had filmed California police officers on live YouTube videos earlier in the week on the "Furry Potato" channel in an effort to "educate people about their rights while holding police and government officials accountable to us. I strive to do this in a fun and entertaining fashion." Perez was released from the hospital later in the day.
The video begins after Perez had apparently circled the building and confronting the guard to the point that he unsheathed his weapon. For several minutes Perez, as seen in the video, stood laughing and mocking the guard stating, "we are outside the Jewish synagogue... I'm going to run... Let's take these piggies for a walk."
"Why are you recording this institution," the guard is heard asking, before finally firing what he later called "a warning shot." The video continues for a full 38-minutes as the police are called and Perez is seen being taken away in an ambulance.The guard, identified as 44-year-old Edduin Zelayagrunfeld, was arrested by the police on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, the LAPD stated according to the LA Times.
Located in the historically Jewish Fairfax District, the community experienced an attempt attack in November when 32-year-old Mohamed Mohamed tried to run down worshipers Friday night while shouting antisemitic slogans. In a separate incident, a synagogue in Irvine California was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti.
Cnaan Lipshiz of JTA contributed to this story.