It was a tragic incident at competing demonstrations in Thousand Oaks over the Mideast crisis. Now, prosecutors say they are pursuing battery, and involuntary manslaughter charges as the result of a confrontation which led to the death of a Jewish man.
It happened November 5, at the intersection of Thousand Oaks and Westlake Boulevards in Thousand Oaks. There were competing pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian rallies.
Ventura County Sheriff's detectives say Loay Alnaji and Paul Kessler had some type of a confrontation. What happened is still unclear, but Kessler ended up hitting his head on the ground. The 69-year-old pro-Israeli demonstrator died a few hours later.
The pro-Palestinian demonstrator was arrested Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon, prosecutors said they will pursue battery and involuntary manslaughter charges.
Alnaji is a computer science professor at Moorpark College. The 50-year-old Moorpark man been put on paid administrative leave, pending resolution of the charges.
At a news conference last week, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said Alnaji coooperated with authorities and the scene of the incident. The Sheriff said he was one of the people who called 911 seeking aid for Kessler.
During that news conference the Sheriff said they would also investigate where a hate crime might have occurred. But, at this point that type of charge hasn't been pursued.
