Plea Deal for Pro-Hamas Protester Charged in Death of Elderly Jewish Man Causes Uproar-Faces Up to Only One Year in Prison
Just weeks after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel, an elderly Jewish man was killed during a pro-Palestinian protest in California. Now, Loay Abdel Fattah Alnaji, 53, the man who struck Paul Kessler, 69, may serve as little as a year or even avoid jail time.
Kessler was walking near the protest with an Israeli flag when an altercation broke out.
Alnaji allegedly struck Kessler with a megaphone, which caused him to fall to the ground and led to a severe head injury.
Kessler died the next day.
Before Alnaji went to trial, he entered a plea deal and pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including involuntary manslaughter and felony battery causing serious bodily injury.
The Ventura County Star reports, “Ventura County Superior Court Judge Derek Malan offered the defendant probation if he changed his plea. Alnaji now faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail followed by three years on probation.”
“Defense attorney Ron Bamieh said the offer came after several meetings with Malan and recalled that the judge determined ‘two old guys had a dispute and an accident happened.'”
While the maximum sentence for his charges is four years in state prison, the court indicated that, as a result of the guilty plea, it is likely to place Alnaji on formal probation and that he will serve no more than 365 days in county jail.
A county jail sentence is generally considered less severe than time in state prison and is served locally, often with possibilities for work release, electronic monitoring or early release.
Alnaji’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 25, and he remains free on $50,000 bail, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Joshua Burt, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of Santa Barbara/Tri-State counties, wrote on Instagram, “The sentence attached to this plea deal is woefully inadequate and emboldens others to act in anger against the Jewish community.”
“Without real, lasting consequences, men with evil intent or anger in their hearts will not be deterred from harming an already vulnerable community, elderly and Jewish alike.”
“Jewish Communities and individuals across the United States, including Mississippi, West Bloomfield, Michigan, Boulder, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., have endured violence, death, and fear.”
“This plea deal will only serve to further isolate and victimize Jewish communities in the United States and beyond.”
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