ByEMMA RICHTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Published:11:36 EDT, 7 May 2026|Updated:11:45 EDT, 7 May 2026
A pro-Palestine protestor may avoid having to spend time in jail after pleading guilty to killing an elderly Jewish man at a rally.
Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji, 53, changed his plea regarding the death of Paul Kessler, 69, on Tuesday - more than three years after the pro-Israel demonstrator died following a violent protest in Thousand Oaks,Californiaafter the October 7 attacks.
Kessler was seen on videowaving a large Israeli flag before he was hit on the head with a megaphone, causing him to fall over and knock his head on the pavement on November 5, 2023. He died the following day.
Alnaji,a Southern California college professor, had joined the rally that day in support ofPalestine, while Kessler supportedIsraelin a counter-protest.
The rallies came afterHamasmilitants launched a horrific surprise attack on Israel in October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 240 others hostage.
His case was set to go to trial, but he decided to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, felony battery causing serious bodily injury, according to prosecutors.
Alnaji also confessed to personally inflicting great bodily injury, using a weapon, and targeting a particularly vulnerable victim.
Despite the maximum sentence for his charges being four years, he will likely be granted probation with the possibility of up to a year in county jail, prosecutors said, because he changed his plea.
Source: Drudge Report
