Image source: Fox News video screenshot
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Police on Thursday arrested a pro-Palestinian suspect in connection with the killing of an elderly Jewish man who was holding an Israeli flag amid dueling protests last week in Thousand Oaks, California.
What are the details?
Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji, 50, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and taken to Ventura County Jail on $1,000,000 bail, Fox News reported, citing a Ventura County Sheriff's Department news release.
Numerous news outlets have said the man seen in this image is Loay Abdelfattah Alnaji. Image source: Fox News video screenshot
Investigators said Alnaji caused Paul Kessler — a 69-year-old pro-Israel protester — to fall, after which Kessler hit his head on the sidewalk, the cable network said.
The cable network noted that in video recorded after the altercation between Alnaji and Kessler, Alnaji can be seen seen sitting just feet away from Kessler, who's lying on his back on the sidewalk and bleeding.
Image source: Fox News video screenshot
Alnaji can also be seen answering police officers' questions. Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said during a news conference last week that the then-unnamed suspect had been cooperative.
Image source: Fox News video screenshot
Image source: Fox News video screenshot
Kessler was taken to a hospital where he died the next day of his injuries.
More from Fox News:
Although police previously obtained a warrant to search Alnaji's vehicle and home in Moorpark on Nov. 6, detaining the then-suspect for about two hours, they had insufficient evidence to carry out an arrest.
It is unclear what new evidence led to Alnaji's arrest. In the weeks preceding his arrest, some witnesses have told Fox News Digital that the pro-Palestinian protester struck Kessler with his megaphone. An autopsy carried out by Ventura County Medical Examiner Christopher Young showed minor abrasions to the left side of Kessler's mouth in addition to the brain swelling and bruising that killed him.
The department wrote that they are still crowdsourcing photos and video from 3 and 4 p.m. at the intersections of Westlake and Thousand Oaks Boulevards, and offering a $1,000 reward for any pertinent footage or information.
Alnaji is a full-time professor and teaches computer science on Ventura County Community College's Moorpark campus, the cable network said, adding that the school didn't immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Alnaji was born in Kuwait, the cable network said, citing the Ventura County District Attorney's office, but added that his citizenship status wasn't clear.
Before they were taken down, Alnaji's faculty page and linked YouTube introduction indicated he has taught college students since 2003 and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science and a doctorate in business administration, Fox News said.
The cable network added that Alnaji on his now-deleted Instagram account posted a video showing activist Shahid King Bolsen comparing the Hamas terror group to civil rights leaders Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
"If someone asked me to condemn Hamas, I would say, what's the rush? Let's let history decide," Bolsen said in the video Alnaji shared, according to Fox News, adding that Bolsen also said, "Let's wait to see because you might change your mind on this, too — you condemned Mahatma Gandhi until you didn't."
Fox News said witnesses at the scene have told the cable network that Alnaji "tried to bait" Kessler before their altercation and was using a megaphone to shout directly into the faces of pro-Israel protesters.
"I don't know how many times I told him to take that out of my ear," Jonathan Oswaks, Kessler's friend and fellow protester, told Fox News in regard to Alnaji's behavior. "And I wasn't polite about it… He tried to bait me, and I didn't take the bait. [Then] he walked across the street and tried to bait Paul."
Another witness who didn't want to be named told the cable network that Alnaji was "very aggressive" and appeared to want "to maybe not kill or hurt [Kessler] but to get in his face and get into an altercation."
Alnaji is scheduled to appear Monday in Ventura County Superior Court, Fox News said.
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