Jewish leaders decry ‘inadequate’ plea deal for California man guilty of pro-Israel protester’s death |
JTA — The local director of the Anti-Defamation League was one of multiple Jewish leaders to decry a plea deal reached Tuesday in the trial of a man charged with causing the 2023 death of a Jewish pro-Israel protester, Paul Kessler, in a Los Angeles suburb.
Under the terms of the deal, defendant Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji would face no more than a year in county jail.
Alnaji, 53, of Moorpark, California, admitted to hitting Kessler, then 69, in the head with a megaphone during dueling pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrations in a Los Angeles suburb in November 2023.
Kessler later died of his injuries, and his death became the first tied to demonstrations surrounding the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack and subsequent war in Gaza in the United States.
On Tuesday, Alnaji pleaded guilty to all charges related to Kessler’s death, including felony involuntary manslaughter and felony battery causing serious bodily injury, after initially pleading not guilty.
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........