Community college professor Loay Alnaji, 50, as seen on Nov. 5, 2023 at the scene of an alleged assault on 69-year-old Paul Kessler, who later died after falling and hitting his head on the ground. Photo: Screenshot

Police in California on Thursday arrested community college professor Loay Alnaji and charged him with involuntary manslaughter for his alleged role in the death of an elderly Jewish man during dueling demonstrations held over the Israel-Hamas war in a Los Angeles suburb earlier this month.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that Alnaji, 50, will be booked at a detention facility in the county and bail will be set at $1 million.

Paul Kessler, 69, died on Nov. 6 at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California, after succumbing to injuries caused by “blunt force head trauma” suffered the prior day, Ventura County medical examiner Dr. Christopher Young confirmed last week.

During an altercation with someone whom police previously described as a “pro-Palestine” protester, Kessler, who had been waving an Israeli flag, fell backward and hit his head on the ground.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has said that an anti-Israel protester struck Kessler in the head with a megaphone during the Nov. 5 confrontation.

Young confirmed that Kessler did have injuries to his face, but the medical examiner and the police declined to comment on how they were caused and what immediately preceded Kessler hitting his head on the ground.

This week, photos emerged online showing Alnaji holding a megaphone that is believed to have been used in the alleged assault that caused Kessler’s fall.

Alnaji’s arrest came over a week after the Ventura County Sheriff’s office, citing conflicting witness accounts of the altercation and a lack of video documentation, claimed there was insufficient evidence to begin criminal proceedings against any suspect.

Before Thursday, police had only briefly detained Alnaji during a traffic stop while a search of his home in Moorpark — a city in Ventura County — was conducted with a warrant. Authorities at the time declined to confirm the identity of Alnaji or anyone else as a potential suspect.

“Though an arrest has been made, we continue to encourage community members who may have information about this criminal investigation and have yet to come forward to please contact Detective [Corey] Stump at 805-384-4745,” the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in Thursday’s statement.

StopAntisemitism, a nonprofit that tracks antisemitic incidents around the world, reported last week that Alnaji has shared pro-Hamas content on social media, including a video in which activist Shahid King Bolsen, who in 2006 was convicted of killing a German engineer in Dubai, said the Palestinian terrorist group will be remembered as civil rights heroes.

Alnaji has also reportedly posted on his Facebook and YouTube pages statements that said “O Allah, release the captivity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “Oh, God, give victory to your weak servants in Palestine, and everywhere.”

The Ventura County Sheriff’s office has said it has not ruled out the possibility that Kessler’s death was a hate crime.

Alnaji teaches computer science at Ventura Community College in California.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.