LOS ANGELES — California authorities said Friday they have not ruled out a hate crime in the death of a pro-Israel protester after a confrontation with a college professor whose lawyer says video footage will exonerate his client.
Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said his office has charged Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, 50, with involuntary manslaughter and battery in the death of Paul Kessler, 69, after reviewing more than 600 pieces of evidence and interviewing more than 60 witnesses.
“We were not pre-committed to a specific outcome or even to criminal culpability, and we never considered the fact that criminal charges would be a foregone conclusion,” he said.
Alnaji pleaded not guilty Friday to the charges, each of which comes with a special allegation of causing grievous bodily harm personally, meaning he could be eligible for a prison sentence if convicted.
The two men got into a physical altercation on November 5 during protests against the war between Israel and Hamas. Kessler fell backwards and hit his head on the ground, causing the fatal injuries, authorities said. He died the next day.
Kessler was among the pro-Israel protesters who showed up at an event that started as a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Thousand Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles.
Alnaji’s attorney, Ron Bamieh, said his client did not cause Kessler to fall and was a few feet away from him when it happened. He said Kessler shouted profanities at Alnaji and pushed his phone in his face before the fall. Alnaji may have hit the phone with a bullhorn and unintentionally hit Kessler in the face, Bamieh said.
Alnaji then walked away from Kessler, who fell moments later, Bamieh said, adding that video evidence shows that.
“I don’t know why he fell,” Bamieh said. “All I know is that my client didn’t push him down. When I saw the video, I had a feeling that my client would be fine. He’s not even close.”
Bamieh said his concern is that the case is being influenced by “more passions than logic.”
Authorities have said Kessler suffered non-fatal injuries to the left side of his face, but they have not specified what caused that or the fall.
They provided no details Friday about what happened before the fall.
“In filing these charges, we relied on new physical and forensic evidence, as well as findings regarding the injuries to the left side of Paul Kessler’s face,” Nasarenko said.
“We were able to take both video and digital footage, put them together and establish a clear chain of events leading up to the confrontation,” he said. “These new pieces of evidence, as well as the technology we used, enabled our office to file these criminal charges.”
Nasarenko said investigators are working to determine whether the altercation was “accompanied by specific statements or words that demonstrate antipathy, hatred toward a specific group.” He added: “We don’t have that at the moment.”
Authorities said Alnaji stayed when Kessler was injured and told emergency responders he called 911. Before his arrest, he was briefly held for questioning and his home was searched.
Alnaji, a computer science professor at Moorpark College who has raised money for orphans and safe water sources in the Middle East, believes the war in Gaza is unjust and that the killing of innocent people on either side of the war cannot be justified. said lawyer.
“He is a man of peace who abhors violence and believes in the truth of persuasive arguments and education, never violence,” his lawyer said in a statement.
The prosecutor said he met with Kessler’s family and they wanted privacy. He said Kessler had worked in medical sales for decades, taught sales and marketing at colleges and was a pilot. He is survived by his wife of 43 years and a son.
The prosecutor thanked local Muslim and Jewish leaders for not inflaming the situation, which increased tensions across the country due to the war.
“Over the past 12 days, the community of Muslim and Jewish leaders have shown restraint,” he said. “Their comments have been measured. The respect for the criminal process has become well known. They relied on law enforcement to get to this point.”
___
Watson reported from San Diego.