A medical examiner has concluded that the injuries Paul Kessler sustained during an altercation with a pro-Hamas protester last year are consistent with a bullhorn strike, despite the alleged assailant claiming he did not cause the 69-year-old pro-Israel protester’s fall and subsequent death.
Paul Kessler was holding an Israeli flag at a California gas station in November when Moorpark College professor Loay Alnaji allegedly hit him in the head with a megaphone. Kessler fell to the ground and suffered a skull fracture. He was brought to the hospital, where he died from blunt-force injuries seven hours after the attack.
Alnaji was arrested one week after the November 5 incident and charged with involuntary manslaughter. However, Alnaji and his defenders maintained that Alnaji and other pro-Hamas protesters were demonstrating peacefully and that Kessler was the aggressor in the incident, in which he merely slipped and fell to the ground, hitting his head.
Dr. Othon Mena, assistant chief medical examiner for Ventura County, testified this week that lacerations on Kessler’s left chin, left upper lip, and the outer corner of his left eye were caused by the bullhorn. A tear inside Kessler’s mouth and damage to his tongue where he’d clenched his teeth were most likely caused by the impact of the bullhorn, Mena said.
Kessler also presented with a black eye, caused either by the bullhorn strike or his fall, according to Mena. A two-inch curvilinear tear on the back of Kessler’s head and a skull fracture were also caused by the assault or fall, the medical examiner said.
Meanwhile, Kessler’s DNA was found on three sections of the bullhorn, according to a crime lab technician’s testimony, including a bloodstain that was found near the bottom of the bullhorn.
While Alnaji’s DNA was not found on the bullhorn, videos on Kessler’s phone show the man holding the bullhorn in Kessler’s face just before the alleged assault.
The new information came to light during a preliminary hearing held on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which a California Superior Court judge ruled there was enough evidence for Alnaji to go to trial on charges of manslaughter.
Meanwhile, Alnaji’s attorney, Ron Bamieh, claimed his client was not near Kessler when he fell and suggested Kessler had a medical condition that made him fall. But surveillance video from the gas station showed the pro-Hamas demonstrators crossing the street to confront Kessler, who was holding an Israeli flag.
In a video taken as Kessler was placed in an ambulance, pro-Hamas demonstrators can be heard saying, “Hitler didn’t want you, Hitler didn’t want you, Hitler didn’t want you, Hitler should’ve smashed you.”
Another hearing is set for June 10.