- Loay Alnaji, 50, is being held on $1 million bond in Paul Kessler’s death
- Witnesses say Kessler was hit by Alnaji’s megaphone and then fell to the ground
- An autopsy said he died as a result of hitting the concrete sidewalk
- The pair stood on opposite sides of an Israeli Palestine protest in Thousand Oaks
The California professor accused of killing a Jewish protester he clashed with during a demonstration in Israel and Palestine earlier this month is seen smiling in his mugshot.
Loay Alnaji, 50, was taken into custody yesterday on charges of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Paul Kessler.
Kessler, 69, died after getting into an altercation with Alnaji during a protest in Thousand Oaks earlier this month.
An autopsy revealed that he was punched in the face and died after hitting his head on the concrete sidewalk. Witnesses said Alnaji attacked him, causing him to fall.
Loay Alnaji, 50, was taken into custody yesterday on charges of involuntary manslaughter for the death of Paul Kessler. He is shown in his mugshot
Kessler, 69, died after getting into an altercation with Alnaji during a protest in Thousand Oaks earlier this month. An autopsy revealed that he was punched in the face and died after hitting his head on the concrete sidewalk. Witnesses said Alnaji attacked him, causing him to fall
Alnaji was taken into custody today by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.
He is being held on a $1 million bond.
Police are still appealing for anyone who captured the altercation on video to come forward.
At the scene, Alnjai was filmed telling a police officer that he was trying to punch Kessler’s phone away.
But witnesses, including Kessler’s friend, Jonathan Oswaks, say he hit him with his megaphone.
“Suddenly I see a crash… the white megaphone flying through the air,” Oswaks said at the site of the protest last week.
Oswaks begged the police to take action sooner.
Alnaji remained at the scene after Kessler was taken away in an ambulance. He later cooperated with police in his home.
Videos taken after his fall show Palestinian supporters continuing to chant against Israel, and some making anti-Semitic comments about Hitler.
DailyMail.com was the first to mention Alnaji, who works as a computer science professor at Ventura County Community College.
A female Palestinian supporter appears to help Kessler as he lay stricken on the sidewalk. He died in hospital the next day