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Anti-Israel Protester Arrested for Allegedly Killing Elderly Jewish Man at California Rally
Community college professor Loay Alnaji, 50, as seen on Nov. 5, 2023 at the scene of an alleged assault on 69-year-old Paul Kessler, who later died after falling and hitting his head on the ground. Photo: Screenshot
Police in California on Thursday arrested community college professor Loay Alnaji and charged him with involuntary manslaughter for his alleged role in the death of an elderly Jewish man during dueling demonstrations held over the Israel-Hamas war in a Los Angeles suburb earlier this month.
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Alnaji, 50, will be booked at a detention facility in the county and bail will be set at $1 million.
Paul Kessler, 69, died on Nov. 6 at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California, after succumbing to injuries caused by “blunt force head trauma” suffered the prior day, Ventura County medical examiner Dr. Christopher Young confirmed last week.
During an altercation with someone whom police previously described as a “pro-Palestine” protester, Kessler, who had been waving an Israeli flag, fell backward and hit his head on the ground.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has said that an anti-Israel protester struck Kessler in the head with a megaphone during the Nov. 5 confrontation.
Young confirmed that Kessler did have injuries to his face, but the medical examiner and the police declined to comment on how they were caused and what immediately preceded Kessler hitting his head on the ground.
This week, photos emerged online showing Alnaji holding a megaphone that is believed to have been used in the alleged assault that caused Kessler’s fall.
Alnaji’s arrest came over a week after the Ventura County Sheriff’s office, citing conflicting witness accounts of the altercation and a lack of video documentation, claimed there was insufficient evidence to begin criminal proceedings against any suspect.
Before Thursday, police had only briefly detained Alnaji during a traffic stop while a search of his home in Moorpark — a city in Ventura County — was conducted with a warrant. Authorities at the time declined to confirm the identity of Alnaji or anyone else as a potential suspect.
“Though an arrest has been made, we continue to encourage community members who may have information about this criminal investigation and have yet to come forward to please contact Detective [Corey] Stump at 805-384-4745,” the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in Thursday’s statement.
StopAntisemitism, a nonprofit that tracks antisemitic incidents around the world, reported last week that Alnaji has shared pro-Hamas content on social media, including a video in which activist Shahid King Bolsen, who in 2006 was convicted of killing a German engineer in Dubai, said the Palestinian terrorist group will be remembered as civil rights heroes.
Alnaji has also reportedly posted on his Facebook and YouTube pages statements that said “O Allah, release the captivity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “Oh, God, give victory to your weak servants in Palestine, and everywhere.”
The Ventura County Sheriff’s office has said it has not ruled out the possibility that Kessler’s death was a hate crime.
Alnaji teaches computer science at Ventura Community College in California.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Anti-Israel Protester Arrested for Allegedly Killing Elderly Jewish Man at California Rally first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.