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While many media outlets have moved on, here at RedState we continue to talk to witnesses and develop information related to the death of Paul Kessler, a Jewish man who was holding an Israeli flag on a street corner in Thousand Oaks, California on November 5 when he was attacked by one of those pro-Hamas demonstrators. Kessler, who was stationed on a corner diagonally across the intersection from the pro-Hamas group, died as a result of his injuries.
One week later, hundreds of community members flooded that same intersection demanding justice for Kessler, whose attacker has not yet been arrested.
As we reported, Kessler was struck in the face with a megaphone by a man who has now been identified as Loay Alnaji, a computer science professor at nearby Moorpark College (a two-year public community college) and California State University, Northridge. Alnaji first came to the United States in the 1990s according to the Daily Mail; he has taught at a university in the United Arab Emirates and received his bachelor’s degree in Jordan. Salary records from Transparent California show that Alnaji first taught at Moorpark College in 2017, and in 2022 his total pay and benefits totaled just under $200,000.
The Ventura County Chief Medical Examiner’s office found that Kessler’s cause of death was blunt force trauma, noted wounds on his face, and stated that the manner of death was homicide, and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Kessler’s death as a homicide and has not ruled out a hate crime enhancement. Sheriff’s deputies have spoken to Alnaji and executed a search warrant at his home the day Kessler died, but he has not been arrested as of press time. On Thursday VCSO issued a lengthy statement to the community to address questions as to why Alnaji had not yet been arrested and why he wasn’t being prosecuted.
To be clear, law enforcement officers do not prosecute criminal cases, rather we investigate them, and we obtain evidence with the goal of obtaining enough evidence to establish probable cause so an arrest can be made. Prosecution lies in the hands of the District Attorney’s Office. When law enforcement has enough probable cause to make an arrest and have the District Attorney file charges, it means they have objective evidence that indicates the suspect’s responsibility for the crime. Probable cause is a requirement found in the Fourth Amendment that must be met before the police make an arrest.
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Even though the medical examiner deemed the manner of death a homicide, that isn’t sufficient to arrest Alnaji, the statement says.
First, we want to highlight something that has seemed to be misinterpreted by many, concerning the findings of the autopsy. As the Chief Medical Examiner of Ventura County, Dr. Christopher Young stated during Tuesday’s press conference, his office has determined that Mr. Kessler’s death was a homicide. A homicide determination from the medical examiner does not translate to a prosecutable murder or manslaughter (gross, voluntary, or involuntary) case, rather it establishes that Mr. Kessler’s death was not from natural causes, suicide, or unknown. His death being ruled a homicide simply means his death was caused at the hands of another. This determination, in and of itself, does not provide sufficient evidence to establish probable cause for an immediate arrest of a suspect. The determination, though helpful to the subsequent criminal investigation, does not provide our investigators with the required probable cause to make an arrest and obtain a criminal filing from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
What about eyewitnesses and videos such as those published at RedState? Those are definitely part of the evidence being analyzed, but reading between the lines of the VCSO statement, it seems that some of the pro-Hamas agitators could be intentionally making it difficult for an arrest to be made. All they have to do is give false statements.
This case involves eyewitnesses who were present at the scene; however, many witness statements conflict with one another. Conflicting statements from multiple witnesses can make it difficult to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. Witnesses with conflicting statements impair witness credibility, create reasonable doubt, cause unreliable testimony, and strain a prosecutor’s ability to prove a case. We are in constant communication with our District Attorney’s Office regarding this case.
Sources close to the investigation, speaking to RedState on condition of anonymity, said that VCSO is indeed working around the clock to analyze video and photographic evidence and interview witnesses in an attempt to sort out those conflicting statements and present sufficient evidence for an arrest and conviction. In the meantime, the community plans to keep Kessler’s name out there and keep up pressure on both the VCSO and Ventura County District Attorney’s office.
