A medical examiner testified this week that pro-Israel demonstrator Paul Kessler died last fall after being struck with a bullhorn by a pro-Hamas college professor, further contradicting the professor’s claim that he was not responsible for the Jewish protester’s fall and death.
Loay Alnaji, a computer science professor at Moorpark College, allegedly hit Kessler in the head with a bullhorn while he was holding an Israeli flag during a demonstration at a gas station in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on November 5. The strike caused Kessler to fall, fracture his skull, and die about seven hours later in a hospital.
Dr. Othon Mena, assistant chief medical examiner for Ventura County, said in court earlier this week that an autopsy revealed the injuries on Kessler’s body, including his left chin, left upper lip, tongue, and the outer corner of his left eye, were consistent with a bullhorn strike to the head.
Mena added that the strike or the subsequent fall caused the 69-year-old Jewish man to get a black eye, a skull fracture, and a two-inch curvilinear tear on the back of his head. A crime lab technician also testified that Kessler’s DNA was found on parts of the bullhorn.
The testimonies came during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday, where a Superior Court judge concluded there is enough evidence for Alnaji to go to trial on manslaughter charges.
Alnaji, who was arrested one week after the alleged attack and charged with involuntary manslaughter, has maintained that Kessler was the aggressor during their altercation and died after he "slipped."
Surveillance footage and videos from Kessler’s phone, however, showed Alnaji and other pro-Hamas protesters coming up to and harassing Kessler before the fatal incident.
Some of the pro-Hamas agitators were also caught on video chanting "Hitler didn’t want you" and "Hitler should’ve smashed you" as Kessler was being carried into an ambulance.
Alnaji just days after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel reposted a video on Instagram of activist Shahid King Bolsen comparing Hamas to historic freedom fighters. "If someone asks me to condemn Hamas, I would say what’s the rush?" Bolsen said in the video. "You condemned Nelson Mandela and the ANC until you didn’t, until he was a hero. You condemned Mahatma Gandhi until you didn’t."