Manhattan prosecutors decline to pursue charges against dozens of students who occupied building in April protest
The hearing at the Manhattan criminal courthouse came seven weeks after Columbia administrators called in hundreds of armed and heavily armored police officers to the university’s campus in a high-profile law-enforcement response that was broadcast live on national news channels.who had barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall, and cleared a weeks-old tent encampment on a nearby Columbia lawn that has inspired similar pro-Palestinian protests at universities around the world.
Stephen Millan, a prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, told the court on Thursday his office would not prosecute 30 protesters who were Columbia students at the time of the arrest, nor two who were Columbia employees, citing prosecutorial discretion and lack of evidence. A case against another student was dismissed earlier in the month.
“All these matters are dismissed and sealed in the interest of justice,” Judge Kevin McGrath announced in the courtroom where dozens of defendants and their supporters appeared with keffiyeh scarves around their shoulders. The scarves have become a symbol of the pro-Palestinian movement. The district attorney’s office proposed the 13 accept an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, a provision in New York law that if accepted means the case against a defendant will be dropped and sealed in six months if they are not arrested for another offense in the interim.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why are America’s elite universities so afraid of this scholar’s paper?The Columbia Law Review website was temporarily shut down after it published a Palestinian human rights lawyer’s article proposing a new way to understand Palestinian life under Israeli rule
Read more »
Pro-Palestinian activists target the Melbourne office of federal Labor MP Josh BurnsPro-Palestinian activists target the office of federal Labor MP Josh Burns overnight in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. It is the latest in a string of acts of vandalism linked to the Gaza conflict.
Read more »
Pro-Palestinian protesters escorted from US comedian Jerry Seinfeld's Sydney showFootage shows security escorting a couple of people out of a Jerry Seinfeld show in Sydney. The American comedian has been vocal in his support for Israel since October 7.
Read more »
Into the Lions’ Den: Militant Palestinian fighter group inspires hardline attack on Melbourne UniIn what has been described as a concerning step-up in protest activity, activists in balaclavas have targeted the Baillieu Library in the name of an armed resistance group.
Read more »
San Francisco police arrest pro-Palestinian protesters occupying Israeli consulate buildingAuthorities confirmed 70 people were taken in to custody, cited for trespassing and released after they ‘refused to vacate’ the premises
Read more »
NSW library apologises after student kicked out for wearing Palestinian keffiyehThe State Library of NSW has issued an apology after a security guard told the student to leave yesterday.
Read more »