VENTURA, Calif. (CN) — A Southern California computer science professor will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Jewish man during an altercation between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrators last November.
Loay Alnaji, 51, stands accused of hitting 69-year-old Paul Kessler with a megaphone at a rally in Thousand Oaks, where a group of "We Are Pro Israel" protesters confronted a "Freedom for Palestine" demonstration in the wake of Israel's invasion of Gaza.
Kessler fell and hit his head on the pavement. He was taken to the hospital where he died the next morning. His death was ruled a homicide.
After a two-day preliminary hearing, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright ruled Wednesday that prosecutors had provided sufficient evidence to put Alnaji on trial. He faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, battery causing serious bodily injury, as well as special allegations of personally inflicting great bodily injury.
Alnaji, who teaches computer science at Moorpark College, faces as long as four years in prison if convicted on all charges. He has been free on bail since his arrest last year.
The evidence presented at the preliminary hearing included DNA analysis of blood found on the rim of the megaphone, which Alnaji is accused of striking Kessler with, according to a statement from the Ventura County district attorney's office. The blood located on the front end of the megaphone horn was matched to Kessler.
Video and audio evidence from Kessler’s cellphone showed the moments directly before he was struck by Alnaji, according to the DA's office. And a Ventura County medical examiner testified that Kessler died from blunt force trauma caused by the blow from the megaphone and the subsequent fall to the pavement.
Alnaji's attorney Ron Bamieh said in a telephone interview that Kessler's fall wasn't caused by his client, but that Kessler's medical records show that he had a history of falling related to a tumor in his head.
Bamieh said that while the incident was sad and unfortunate, it was Kessler who sought the confrontation with Alnaji at the demonstration by shoving his phone in Alnaji's face and yelling epithets, including calling him a terrorist.
Alnaji accidentally struck Kessler when he swatted away Kessler's phone, the lawyer said.
"There's a low standard of proof at a preliminary hearing," Bamieh said. "The jury will have to decide whether it was reasonable for Mr. Alnaji to swat away his phone."
Videos posted on social media of the Nov. 5 confrontation show a smallish group of pro-Palestine demonstrators in front of a gas station as one of them yelled into a megaphone, "All of Israel will burn in hell."
A few pro-Israel counterprotesters, including Kessler holding an Israeli flag, can be seen in the video standing next to the pro-Palestine demonstrators. Another video shows Kessler lying on his back and bleeding from his head.
Alnaji was identified as a suspect at the time. He was one of the people who called 911 and remained at the scene of the incident, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said at a Nov. 7 press conference.
Alnaji cooperated with the officers who responded to the incident and told them that he had been involved in an altercation with Kessler. He hasn't been charged with a hate crime related to the confrontation.
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