Urge the OCDA To Drop Charges Against Peaceful Anti-Genocide Protesters

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Urge the OCDA To Drop Charges Against Peaceful Anti-Genocide Protesters

Photo Credit: Mike Blake/Reuters

UCI Students and Faculty Are Facing Criminal Charges for Their Pro-Palestinian Activism

Ten anti-genocide protesters, including four students and two professors from the University of California, Irvine (UCI), are being charged by the Orange County District Attorney (OCDA)’s office with failure to disperse after they were arrested during the university’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment on May 15.

UCI’s militarized police response to the nonviolent encampment led to the arrest of more than 50 demonstrators, largely students and faculty, peacefully protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The OCDA is also reportedly reviewing evidence against the remaining 40 people who were arrested.

These clearly politicized legal charges are part of an ongoing nationwide effort by many pro-Israel law enforcement leaders, elected officials, and university administrators to intimidate, harass, and silence pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses.

Rather than engage in conversation with student protesters, colleges and universities have repeatedly made attempts to silence pro-Palestinian activism by weaponizing school policies to suppress free speech, intimidate critics of Israeli human rights abuses, and authorize police violence against students, faculty, and staff.

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Urge the OCDA to drop the charges against the students, faculty, and community members who participated in pro-Palestine protests at UCI and uphold their right to peaceful protest.

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OCDA

Subject: OCDA Must Drop Charges Against Peaceful UCI Protesters

Message:

I am writing today to urge the District Attorney’s office to drop the charges against UCI students, faculty, and community members who were arrested on May 15, 2024, while engaged in a peaceful public assembly in support of Palestinian human rights.

The goal of this nonviolent demonstration was to raise awareness about the ongoing genocide, call for a ceasefire, and allow the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza—a position held by a majority of American voters, the international community, and virtually all major human rights organizations.

The demonstrators who were arrested are people of conscience, who are heartbroken and horrified over Israel’s atrocities and ongoing genocide in Gaza. Israel’s ongoing violence has led to the deaths of at least 40,000 civilians, including 16,000 children, and millions more are facing forced displacement and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

I strongly urge you to drop the charges against the UCI students, faculty, and community members who, like so many individuals, are simply calling for justice and an end to the horrific violence against Palestinians.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

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