SoCal Man Sentenced After Deadly Attack On Jewish Man During Protest

MOORPARK, CA — A 53-year-old Moorpark man was sentenced to one year in jail on Tuesday after a violent attack on an elderly Jewish man that claimed his life, authorities announced.

Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji was sentenced to one year in Ventura County Jail and two years of felony probation after pleading guilty in May to felony involuntary manslaughter and felony battery causing serious bodily injury, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Retiree Paul Kessler, 69, was a demonstrator at a Israel-Hamas war protest on the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks on Nov. 5, 2023. District Attorney Erik Nasarenko accused Alnaji of escalating "a verbal altercation to a physical confrontation" with Kessler, who suffered a head injury after Alnaji struck Kessler with a megaphone, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the pavement.

Kessler died one day later at a hospital.

Alnaji was arrested days later and charged with Kessler's death, according to the DA's office.

Victim impact statements were submitted for the court to read before Tuesday's sentencing hearing, including a statement from Kessler's widow.

"Mr. Kessler lost his life in a violent attack that took him from his family and his wife of 43 years," Nasarenko said in a news release.

"Given the circumstances of this case and the death that resulted, we believe a state prison commitment was the appropriate and just sentence."