A man was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail and two years of probation after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and battery in the death of a Jewish counter-protester at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in California in November 2023.

The Ventura County district attorney’s office said that Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, 53, escalated a verbal confrontation with 69-year-old Paul Kessler and struck him with a megaphone at the protest in Thousand Oaks, a suburb northwest of Los Angeles.

After he was struck, Kessler fell backward and struck his head on the sidewalk. He died the next day in a hospital.

The DA’s office said Tuesday that it objected to the court’s decision to impose a one-year sentence and probation.

“Mr. Kessler lost his life in a violent attack that took him from his family and his wife of 43 years,” said District Attorney Erik Nasarenko. “Given the circumstances of this case and the death that resulted, we believe a state prison commitment was the appropriate and just sentence.”

The Ventura County district attorney’s office said Kessler’s widow submitted a victim impact statement to the court.

“There are no words to describe the pain of losing a husband in such a sudden and........

© The Times of Israel