An anti-Israel professor accused of killing a Jewish father in a clash during protests against last year’s Israel-Hamas war will stand trial, a judge decided Wednesday.
After a two-day preliminary hearing, Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright decided there was enough evidence to try Roai Abdelfattah al-Nazi. According to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Al-Nazi, 51, is accused of hitting Paul Kessler with a megaphone during an anti-Israel demonstration in the Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks on Nov. 5 after the two got into a violent confrontation. ing.
Kessler, a 69-year-old Jewish father who was protesting against the protests, fell backwards and hit his head on the pavement. He died the next day in the hospital.
Arnaji, a computer science professor at Moorpark University, has been charged with two felonies: manslaughter and battery causing great bodily injury, with a special charge of personally inflicting great bodily injury on each count, prosecutors said. did.
Alnaji posted bail of $50,000, but the amount was cut in half in November after authorities announced he could face hate crime charges in the case.
The professor had promoted pro-Palestinian views on Facebook and other social media accounts, all of which were deleted days after Kessler’s death.
Prosecutors said they are continuing to examine Al-Nazi’s social media pages and other documents in his possession.
“While this evaluation is ongoing and comprehensive, no evidence has been uncovered to support a hate crime at this time,” the prosecutor’s office said.
“Although anti-Semitic hate speech was heard at the November 5, 2023 rally, there is no evidence that the words were uttered by al-Nazi.”
Lawyers for Mr. Al-Nazi, who holds both Jordanian and American passports, had previously argued that he and Mr. Kessler were several feet away from each other when they fell on the sidewalk.
“He may have been pushed and punched with a megaphone, but that’s not what caused the fall,” Ron Bamy, Arnaji’s attorney, said of Kessler in November. “My client was six to eight feet away from him when he fell. That’s the evidence we’ll present when we ultimately settle this matter before a judge and jury. It will be.”
If al-Nazi is found guilty on all charges, he could face more than four years in prison.
The two felonies would count as two strikes against Alnaji under California’s three-strikes law.
Under state law, a three-strikes conviction carries a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
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