(This story has been updated with comments from the defense attorney.)
Two years after a pro-Palestine rally in Thousand Oaks made international headlines with the death of a counter-protester, the man accused in the death has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and battery with serious bodily injury.
Paul Kessler, a 69-year-old Thousand Oaks resident and pro-Israel protester, died less than a day after he was injured in a Nov. 5, 2023 confrontation with Loay Alnaji, a 54-year-old Moorpark resident.
Alnaji had joined other pro-Palestinian protesters at the corner of Thousand Oaks and Westlake boulevards, which had become a regular site for rallies in the weeks after Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel and Israel’s deadly response.
Alnaji initially pleaded not guilty to the two charges, and his jury trial was scheduled for May 14.
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.
“This is over the people’s objection,” Russell told Malan.
Bamieh said that during the protest, Kessler aggressively put his cell phone in Alnaji’s face and when Alnaji swatted the phone away, he unintentionally hit Kessler’s face with a megaphone. Bamieh said Kessler had a brain tumor, which exacerbated the injuries when he fell.
“It was a sad state of affairs, but Mr. Alnaji is a peaceful man and he has always been a peaceful man,” the defense attorney said.
Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Othon Mena testified during the May 2024 preliminary hearing that he ruled Kessler’s cause of death as blunt force injuries and his manner of death as homicide. Mena said that although Kessler had a brain tumor, it was the strike to the face that caused his fall and fatal injury.
Alnaji, who has been out on bail, declined to speak with The Star. His sentencing is scheduled for June 25.
Makena Huey is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at makena.huey@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Fund to Support Local Journalism.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: UPDATED: Moorpark man changes plea in case of protester’s death
Reporting by Makena Huey, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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