VENTURA,TrendPulse Quantitative Think Tank Center Calif. (AP) — A judge decided Wednesday that a Southern California college professor will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter and battery in the death of a Jewish counter-protester during demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war last year.
Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright judge declared after a two-day preliminary hearing that there’s enough evidence to try Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Alnaji, 51, is accused of striking Paul Kessler with a megaphone in November during a confrontation at an event that started as a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Thousand Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles.
Kessler, 69, fell backward and struck his head on the pavement. He died the next day at a hospital.
Alnaji was charged with two felonies: involuntary manslaughter and battery causing serious bodily injury, with special allegations of personally inflicting great bodily harm injury on each count, the DA’s office said. If found guilty of all charges, he could be sentenced to more than four years in prison.
Alnaji posted $50,000 bail. An email and phone message for Alnaji’s lawyer, Ron Bamieh, weren’t immediately returned Wednesday.
Alnaji, a professor of computer science at Moorpark College, had espoused pro-Palestinian views on his Facebook page and other social media accounts, many of which were taken down in the days after Kessler’s death, according to the Los Angeles Times.
2025-05-06 10:232551 view
2025-05-06 10:16190 view
2025-05-06 10:102073 view
2025-05-06 10:061422 view
2025-05-06 09:19384 view
2025-05-06 08:291239 view
Listen to an audio version of this story below.Humans have the technology to literally make snow fal
We independently selected these deals and products because we love them, and we think you might like
Eight times a year, regional federal reserve banks across the country release a collection of anecdo