The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has announced that charges will not be filed against over twenty protesters who participated in the break-in and looting of a Columbia University building during an anti-Israel demonstration. The decision, disclosed in court on Thursday, impacts more than 30 individuals who were accused of misdemeanor trespassing for their involvement in the occupation of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall, as reported by ABC News and Reuters.
Thirteen of the protesters were offered the option to have their charges dropped on the condition that they avoid further arrests for the next six months. However, none of them accepted the offer, resulting in a scheduled court appearance next month. During the court proceedings, some protesters were seen concealing their identities with masks and keffiyehs, a common practice among student activists.
The sole remaining defendant from the Hamilton Hall occupation is James Carlson, an anarchist known for his history of incitement. Carlson is charged with burning an Israeli flag and damaging a police camera in a holding cell after his arrest. Following weeks of protests against Israel’s military actions in Gaza and U.S. support for it, the New York Police Department apprehended numerous demonstrators who had taken over the building. The movement ultimately prompted Columbia University to divest from multinational companies operating in Israel.
Fortunately, no serious injuries were reported among police officers or protesters during the arrests. Meanwhile, students are currently undergoing disciplinary procedures initiated by Columbia’s administration.
“A group of protesters crossed a new line with the occupation of Hamilton Hall. It was a violent act that put our students, as well as the protesters, at risk. I walked through the building and saw the damage, which was distressing,” Columbia president Minouche Shafik said.
Columbia University had to cancel its traditional graduation ceremony on the main campus due to disruptions caused by anti-Israel protests. The university had already transitioned to a hybrid class format for the remainder of the semester. The protest movement at Columbia served as a catalyst for similar demonstrations at other esteemed universities across the country. Despite being lenient towards the protesters, Bragg and his legal team managed to secure a conviction against former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records last month.
Trump reimbursed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment made to Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election, which was the basis for the business records charges. Although Cohen was the key witness in the trial, he himself has a criminal record for fraud and financial offenses. Some conservatives criticized Bragg’s prosecution for utilizing a novel legal approach to circumvent the statute of limitations and transform the business records charges into offenses related to concealing a crime.
