The man who killed a Jewish protester back in September 2023 is finally going to jail, but thanks to a California judge it won’t be for long.
The death of 69-year-old Paul Kessler happened in November 2023 following a public protest in Thousand Oaks, California. Kessler, who is Jewish, was protesting near a gas station at an intersection where dueling protests had played out in the wake of the 10/7 attack. Kessler was carrying a Jewish flag.
🚨 NEVER FORGET PAUL KESSLER. 🚨
BRUTALLY MURDERED ON THE STREETS OF LOS ANGELES BY AN ISLAMIST FOR BEING A PROUD JEW.
They want us silent.
They want us afraid.
But we will NEVER back down. pic.twitter.com/gSIyNlRXqr
— Jews Fight Back 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@JewsFightBack) May 5, 2026
He was approached by another man named Loay Alnaji who was part of the counter-protest on the opposite side of the street. Alnaji was carrying a plastic bullhorn.
Medical Examiner Confirms Bullhorn Blow to the Head Caused Pro-Israel Demonstrator Paul Kessler’s Death https://t.co/Q193t0jub5
— Jennifer Van Laar (@jenvanlaar) May 16, 2024
The exact moment of the confrontation was not caught on video, but Alnaji claimed Kessler was waving a phone in his face and he swatted it away. Accidental or not, he hit Kessler in the face with the plastic bullhorn hard enough to leave marks. Kessler fell backwards and hit his head on the sidewalk.
Content warning ⚠️ – an elderly Jewish man has been killed by a pro Palestinian protestor who hit him over the head with a megaphone at yesterday’s Israel rally.
Sadly, the victim has passed away from internal bleeding.
May his memory be a blessing and his attacker be… pic.twitter.com/41ZXNutwvK
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 7, 2023
Kessler died the next day in the hospital. As David pointed out at the time, Alnaji turned out to be a professor at a local college who also had a soft-spot for Hamas.
Video with sound @VENTURASHERIFF that Loay Alllnajo posted on his IG on October 17th pic.twitter.com/imwjFl4Oki
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 8, 2023
Alnaji was arrested and pleaded not guilty to the charges of assault and manslaughter. After more than two years he was finally set to go to trial this month.
Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji, who is accused of killing a 69-year-old Jewish man at nearby pro-Israel and anti-Israel rallies on Nov. 5, 2023, is scheduled to go on trial on Feb. 18 in Ventura County Superior Court in California.
Alnaji, 52, allegedly killed Paul Kessler less than a month after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple felonies, including involuntary manslaughter by an unlawful act, per the court docket. He was released on $50,000 bail…
Alnaji faces up to four years if convicted on all charges, the office said.
But with the trial just days away, the judge handling the case decided to offer Alnaji a sweetheart deal.
On May 5, however, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Derek Malan offered the defendant probation if he changed his plea. Alnaji now faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail followed by three years on probation.
Defense attorney Ron Bamieh said the offer came after several meetings with Malan and recalled that the judge determined “two old guys had a dispute and and an accident happened.”
“In light of the potential consequences entering a trial and what could happen, we decided that the best course of action is to accept a probation offer and plead guilty today,” Bamieh told The Star outside of the courtroom.
Senior Deputy District Attorney David Russell said both the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office and Kessler’s family opposed the judge’s offer and instead requested the maximum possible sentence of four years in state prison.
So, according to the judge, “an accident happened.” That’s not what the physical evidence showed. It showed that Kessler was hit in the face hard enough to leave marks. That’s not an accident, that’s an assault. And in this case, it killed him.
So instead of getting four years, which was the maximum the family was seeking, Alnaji will face a maximum of one year in jail, plus probation. No wonder he took this sweetheart deal. There was no way a jury, even one in California, was going to be that eager to overlook Paul Kessler’s corpse.
Luckily, California judges are cut from a different cloth. So the pro-Hamas killer gets a slap on the wrist and the victim’s family gets another reminder of why it’s never good to be a victim in the Golden state.
Editor’s Note: Unelected federal judges are hijacking President Trump’s agenda and insulting the will of the people.
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