The College Fix

Council on American-Islamic Relations calls charges an ‘attack on free speech’

A dozen pro-Hamas student activists who broke into and occupied the Stanford University president’s office last year officially have been charged with two felony counts.

The charges include vandalism and “felony conspiracy to trespass,” according to The Stanford Daily.

The Los Angeles Times reports the charges “appear to represent the most serious prosecution en masse to date in California of those arrested during demonstrations and encampments that roiled campuses last spring.”

During the takeover, activists had “barricaded doors with bike locks, chains, ladders and chairs,” “covered security cameras with tin foil,” broken windows and furniture, and scattered fake blood (pictured), all which caused approximately a quarter million dollars worth of damage.

According to law enforcement’s Statement of Facts on the case, activists’ cell phone data showed “detailed communication about the planning and commission of the occupation and vandalism.”

One item included a “Do-It-Yourself Occupation Guide” which features the quote “Vandalism? Occupying a space removes the space from the capitalist landscape. A group may decide it is better to destroy or vandalize q [sic] space than to return it to its usual role in good condition. The role of vandalism may be dffirent [sic] in each situation, but it should not be disowned outright.”

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen (pictured) said “Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal.”

“There is a bright line between making a point and committing a crime. These defendants crossed the line into criminality when they broke into those offices,” Rosen added.

Attorney Tony Brass, who represents charged student Hunter Taylor-Black, said “he understands that activism is no license for criminality, but ‘the voice of student protesters has been important in American history.'”

Brass claimed the office takeover “was a symbolic gesture to draw attention to a cause for which the students felt a legitimate sense of urgency, with the death toll [in Gaza] rising by the day.”

“Whatever your politics are, wanting to stop infant deaths immediately — one could understand,” Brass said. “I hope that the district attorney’s office sees fit to act with a certain measure of tempering justice with mercy.”

Taylor-Black and the other activists already dealt with “months-long suspensions, costing them their housing, health insurance,” Brass added. “After going through all of that, now they face this.”

Zahra Billoo of the San Francisco chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations claimed the charges were an “attack on free speech”: “Instead of listening to [activists’] demands for justice and accountability, our institutions have chosen repression.”

MORE: Stanford anti-Israel student activists who took over president’s office face felony burglary charges

IMAGE CAPTION & CREDIT: District Attorney Jeff Rosen shows evidence of last year’s pro-Hamas takeover of Stanford president’s office; Marina Medvin/X. INTERIOR IMAGE: Case’s Statement of Facts

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