Amid encampments, building takeovers, and civic upheaval, hundreds of American college students who were detained this week while opposing the war in Gaza could face criminal charges. However, it is still unclear how those accusations will pan out and whether they will be sustained. Nearly 300 persons were taken into custody by New York police on Tuesday night at Columbia University and the City College of New York. 79 people were arrested the day before during altercations with demonstrators at the University of Texas in Austin. At a “illegal encampment” on the campus in New Orleans, Tulane University reported that 14 protestors had been taken into custody. And at Arizona State University, police made at least 70 arrests over the course of the weekend and late last week. However, numerous cases at other colleges have already been dismissed. 57 individuals were detained on the Austin campus last week, but charges against them were dismissed by Travis County prosecutors in Texas. The arrests, all on suspicion of criminal trespassing, were declared without probable cause by Travis County officials.
According to experts, prosecutors will require substantial proof to secure convictions—assuming the cases proceed beyond preliminary court hearings or to trial. Former Manhattan District Attorney’s Office prosecutor and South Florida criminal defense lawyer Richard Serafini clarified that even in cases where hundreds of people are arrested during a large-scale demonstration, prosecutors “have to be able to have the evidence” against each individual arrestee.
He answered, “You can’t charge someone who happened to be there”
Serafini stated that he would not be surprised if many of the charges were eventually withdrawn due to the large number of people that were arrested. He said, “It’s not unusual” in these kinds of situations. In response to the declaration made by New York authorities that they were trying to purge “outside agitators” from the Columbia University campus, Serafini issued a warning: “As a prosecutor, you look at what the person does, you don’t look at their status.” Charges against protestors have generally slipped off court dockets throughout American history. For example, after George Floyd was killed by Minnesota police in May 2020, more than 2,000 protestors were detained nationwide; only a small number of these charges were pursued, and most of them were dismissed. Floyd’s death prompted protests and brought attention to policing on a global scale, but in the vast majority of cases, prosecutors were reluctant to punish people who claimed they were merely exercising their rights to free speech and civil disobedience.
Recent arrests at (US) Columbia; officials blame foreigners
The activists had blocked Hamilton Hall, a university building, for hours before police burst in and cleared the structure, leading to the round of arrests on the upper west side of Manhattan, home of Columbia University. Chief of Patrol for the New York City Police Department John Chell announced during a press conference on Wednesday that 282 individuals connected to the demonstrations at Columbia and the City College of New York, which is located about 20 blocks north, had been taken into custody. It was said by the police that the number of pupils who were arrested has not yet been ascertained. It is yet unknown if non-students would be punished more severely than students. Administrators at the University of Texas announced on Tuesday that 45 of the 79 individuals detained during the altercation had no connection to the school, following the breakup of an encampment by law enforcement the previous day.
The administration released a statement saying, “We believe that those outside our University community are orchestrating and leading this. It is calculated and intentional.” Only two of the 14 arrests made on the Tulane University campus on Wednesday by the Louisiana State Police and the New Orleans Police Department were made by students, according to a statement from the university. Six more individuals, one of whom was a student, were taken into custody during Monday’s campus protests. Administrators at Tulane noted, “The overwhelming majority of the protestors are unaffiliated with our community.”
Pupils will be charged
According to NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, charges against individuals detained at Columbia and CCNY include trespassing, criminal mischief, and burglary. Burglary is a felony in the state of New York. Late on Wednesday night, the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse—the same venue hosting former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial—began to arraign the first arrests stemming from the protests at Columbia and the City College of New York. Dozens of the demonstrators’ supporters, many of whom were dressed in keffiyehs, gathered in the hallways outside the court’s arraignment area. There was a cheerful atmosphere, with many people conversing or holding meetings in small groups.
Following his arraignment, one protester left the courtroom and was immediately surrounded by companions, who then fell to the ground in a fleeting moment of joy. The demonstrator, who was present at the demonstrations at City College, was accused of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer, both of which are felonies. But the judge was advised by the prosecutor in charge of his case to free him from custody while the police “continue to investigate” the incident. Charges for trespassing, resisting arrest, and assaulting an officer may be brought against the demonstrators detained at Tulane on Monday.