Killer of CA Jewish man receives slap-on-the-wrist sentence

Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji was sentenced to just one year in county jail for fatal attack on elderly Jewish man.

By World Israel News Staff

A California professor who fatally struck a Jewish demonstrator at a rally in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led massacres was sentenced to one year in county jail, a punishment that has drawn criticism from prosecutors who argued a prison sentence was warranted.

Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji, 53, a professor at Moorpark College, was sentenced to 12 months in the Ventura County Jail, followed by two years of felony probation, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

The case stems from a confrontation in November 2023 between Alnaji and 69-year-old Paul Kessler, who was participating in a pro-Israel demonstration in Southern California less than a month after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel.

According to prosecutors, Alnaji was attending a nearby anti-Israel counterprotest when the two men became involved in an argument. During the confrontation, Alnaji struck Kessler in the head with a megaphone.

Kessler immediately fell backward, struck his head on the pavement and suffered a catastrophic head injury. He died the following day in a hospital.

Authorities said Alnaji remained at the scene after the incident, called 911 and spoke with responding law enforcement officers. He was arrested several days later, spent two days in custody and was subsequently released on bail while the criminal case proceeded.

In May 2026, Alnaji pleaded guilty to felony involuntary manslaughter and felony battery causing serious bodily injury.

According to prosecutors, Alnaji also admitted “a special allegation that he personally inflicted great bodily injury, along with aggravating factors that he used a weapon and that the victim was particularly vulnerable.”

During the sentencing hearing, Kessler’s widow described the lasting impact of her husband’s death in a victim impact statement read before the court.

“There are no words to describe the pain of losing a husband in such a sudden and violent way,” she said. “The grief is relentless. The silence in our house, the absence of his voice, his companionship, his love and the future we had planned together are losses I carry with me every day.”

In a media statement, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said it was disappointed by the judge’s decision to hand down a light sentence to Alnaji.

“Mr. Kessler lost his life in a violent attack that took him from his family and his wife of 43 years,” District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said. “Given the circumstances of this case and the death that resulted, we believe a state prison commitment was the appropriate and just sentence.”