New York.- The New York justice system on Thursday dismissed the charges against thirty pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during the occupation of a building at Columbia University at the end of April, the group’s spokespersons announced.
On April 30, 46 people who had barricaded themselves in that private New York university, as part of the protests against the war in Gaza that shook American campuses, were arrested during the police eviction and charged with trespass in the third degree, a crime minor.
Prosecutor Stephen Millan reported that his office was dropping charges against 30 protesters due to lack of evidence. Prosecutors had already dismissed charges against another student who participated in protests against the war launched by Israel in Gaza in retaliation for a deadly attack by the Islamist group Hamas on October 7.
For the rest, the New York justice system gave them six months to drop the charges if they did not commit any crime during this period.
At the end of the hearing, spokespersons for the students accused the state of once again trying to divide them by withdrawing the accusations from some and offering agreements to others following its agitational narrative and promised to continue their fight in favor of the Palestinian cause.
“We refuse to abandon our colleagues or tacitly support the state’s definition of legitimate or illegitimate protests,” the spokespersons said in a statement, accompanied by dozens of colleagues, many with their faces and heads covered despite the torrid heat.
Columbia University was the epicenter in April of protests that spread to other university centers around the country and the world, posing a challenge to university authorities who were trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that rallies had led to antisemitism and hatred.
With information from AFP
#Charges #dropped #Columbia #protesters