YNET
Arab lecturer gets one year for killing Jewish protester in California
Daniel Edelson
July 1, 2026

A California court sentenced Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji, a 53-year-old lecturer of Jordanian descent, to one year in jail and two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of Jewish protester Paul Kessler near Los Angeles in November 2023. The incident, first reported by ynet, occurred during dueling pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrations in Thousand Oaks, California, one month after the October 7 attack. Prosecutors said Alnaji, a computer science lecturer at a community college in California, struck Kessler, a 69-year-old Jewish retiree, in the head with a megaphone, causing him to fall backward and hit the pavement. Kessler died of his injuries the next day…The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office opposed the court’s decision, saying Kessler “lost his life in a violent attack that took him from his family and his wife…” READ MORE