Sunnyvale man who cut flags from Highway 101 overpass arrested: SDPS

(KRON) — A Sunnyvale man was arrested after he hit two victims and cut down flags that were hung from a Highway 101 overcrossing, police said.

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety identified the arrested man as 41-year-old Joshua Krupia. Police said the incident happened just before 5:30 p.m. on November 7.

When officers arrived to the Highway 101 overcrossing, Krupia “was being detained by several individuals at the scene,” police said.

The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the Highway 101 demonstration in Sunnyvale was held by pro-Palestinian volunteers. They were holding a vigil for Gaza and calling for justice for Palestinians, CAIR-SFBA said.

Volunteers told CAIR-SFBA that the man yelled racist slurs and profanities at them.

The police department wrote, “Krupia approached a group of individuals on the overcrossing and became involved in a verbal dispute. Krupia used a pocketknife to cut down flags and banners that were attached to the overcrossing. The situation escalated into a physical altercation, during which Krupia struck one individual in the head with a flashlight, causing minor injury, and struck a second individual with his fist.”

Krupia was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, police said, and he was booked into a Santa Clara County jail.

CAIR-SFBA Director Zahra Billoo said, “We are outraged by this reported violent assault on community members peacefully advocating for Palestinian human rights. This was not just vandalism — it was a hate-motivated attack that left people injured while exercising their right to free expression.”