Pro-Palestinian protestors slapped bloody handprints on the home of a powerful Hollywood agent during a protest outside his Los Angeles home.
Jonathan ‘Jay’ Sures, the 58-year-old vice chairman and managing director of the United Talent Agency, saw his Brentwood home targeted by at least 50 UCLA demonstrators early Wednesday morning, Deadline reported.
Sures, who is Jewish, represents superstar clients that include Ryan Seacrest. He is a member of the University of California Board of Regents, which voted to ban political statements from university homepages.
At around 6.15am Wednesday morning, officers from the LAPD were called to Sures’ residence in response ‘to a large group, blocking the street and driveway.’
Along with ‘bloody’ handprints smeared across his garage door, protestors put up caution tape throughout the front yard.
Dozens of demonstrators held up massive signs at the front gate of his home while chanting ‘intifada revolution,’ Daily Bruin reported.
One sign read ‘disclose, divest – we will not stop, we will not rest’ while another said ‘Jonathan Sures you will pay until you see your final day.’
An additional sign that was lying in the street soaked from the rain, read: ‘divest now or you will pay.’
Nearly 50 pro-Palestinian protestors targeted the Los Angeles home of Hollywood agent Jay Sures
Sures, who is Jewish, represents superstar clients that include Ryan Seacrest
‘It’s one thing to peacefully protest, but to go to an administrator or a Regent’s house to violate the hundred foot rule, which is what it is in Los Angeles, to disturb the entire neighborhood by pounding on drums, to surround my wife’s car and prevent her from free movement and to put up signs, threatening my family and my life and vandalize the house – that is a big escalation,’ Sures told Deadline.
A neighbor, who was granted anonymity for safety reasons, told the Daily Bruin that they were pushed by a protestor while attempting to film the demonstration before roughly 20 police officers responded to the scene.
When officers arrived at the home, they were met with nearly 50 masked protestors ‘banging on drums, making loud noises and causing disturbance.’
‘Our job was to keep the peace,’ an LAPD officer told Deadline. ‘There were no arrests.’
Due to the size of the crowd, UCLA police officers were also requested to the scene.
After police successfully dispersed the protestors at around 8am, three police cars remained outside the home, Daily Bruin reported.
Sures said that the early-morning protests ‘scared the living s***’ out of his wife, adding how the ‘whole situation is unfortunate’ and that ‘threatening my family is so disappointing,’ The Daily Beast reported.
The protest was organized by the Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine group at the University of California.
Dozens of demonstrators held up massive signs at the front gate of his home while chanting ‘intifada revolution’
Officers from the LAPD were called to Sures’ residence in response to the protest
Sures said that the early-morning protests ‘scared the living s***’ out of his wife, adding how the ‘whole situation is unfortunate’ and that ‘threatening my family is so disappointing’
The group shared a post to Instagram on Wednesday, which said that Sures ‘is one of the unelected officials responsible for protecting UC investments in genocide and weapons manufacturing.’
‘He has attempted to intimidate faculty and students who spoke out against the genocide in Gaza, but we refuse to stay silent and allow his relationships with LAPD and [the Anti-Defamation League] to go unexposed,’ it read.
United Talent Agency partners with the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that frequently advocates for Israel as it seeks to stop anti-Semitism.
Sures also serves as a board member of the LAPD Foundation, which raises money for the police department.
He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory – both of which develop and test US nuclear weapons.
‘I’m Jewish. There are 18 regents, and I’ve been outspoken: you can Google me about what I’ve written, what I’ve done in the world of the University of California,’ Sures told Deadline.
‘I’ve been pretty outspoken about the cause, about protecting our Jewish students, and they don’t like it,’ he added in reference to the protestors.
‘So they do this to try to intimidate you to, so you back off them. It’s all intimidation.’
When officers arrived at the home, were met with nearly 50 masked protestors ‘banging on drums, making loud noises and causing disturbance’
Sures believed that one of the driving forces behind the protest was his strongly worded response to a letter from the Ethnic Studies Faculty council demanding the school retract its statement calling Hamas ‘terrorists’
He boldly told the staffers in a powerful two-page letter that he was ‘sickened’ by their statement and the prospect of its signatories shaping young minds
Wednesday’s demonstration comes just six months after the UC Regents voted to ban political statements from university homepages – a policy mainly driven by Sures himself.
Sures believed that one of the driving forces behind the protest was his strongly worded response to a letter from the Ethnic Studies Faculty council demanding the school retract its statement calling Hamas ‘terrorists.’
He boldly told the staffers in a powerful two-page letter that he was ‘sickened’ by their statement and the prospect of its signatories shaping young minds.
‘There are absolutely no words to describe how appalling and repugnant I found your Oct. 16 letter from the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council to the Regents of the University of California,’ the letter read.
‘Your letter is rife with falsehoods about Israel and seeks to legitimize and defend the horrific savagery of the Hamas Massacre of October 7,’ he continued.
He then called the administration’s initial statement ‘absolutely justified and necessary because ‘terrorism has no place in our world.’
‘As human beings we need to condemn it immediately and forcefully without fear of retribution or that some may be offended,’ he added.
Sures concluded his letter by strongly urging the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council to issue a public statement retracting the statements in their Oct. 16 letter and ‘clearly condemn Hamas’s horrific attack on innocent Israeli Civilians (as well as other nationalities) on October 7 as terrorism.’
After police successfully dispersed the protestors at around 8am, three police cars remained outside the home
Sures, who called the behavior of Wednesday’s protestors ‘inexcusable,’ said that he is planning to press charges against those whose identities can be uncovered
‘Plain and simple,’ he wrote. ‘In addition, your organization should commit to learning more about antisemitism and all forms of hate and how it lives on our campuses where you are tasked and trusted with educating our next generation of students and leaders.’
Sures, who called the behavior of Wednesday’s protestors ‘inexcusable,’ told Deadline that he is planning to press charges against those whose identities can be uncovered.
‘They’ve asked for all the security camera footage, and they’re going to go back and look on the footage to see,’ he said.
‘Everybody was masked. So they’re going to see if they can identify folks. And yeah, I mean, if we can identify folks, we’re definitely going to press charges.’
The 15 months of conflict between Palestine and Israel, which has left at least 46,000 Palestinians dead and displaced more than a million, ended with a ceasefire deal last month.
