Criminal trespass charges dismissed for 79 UT-Austin pro-Palestinian protesters – UPI.com

June 26 (UPI) — Charges filed against 79 pro-Palestinian protesters, who were arrested in April at the University of Texas at Austin campus, will be dismissed, according to prosecutors who attracted praise from Muslim and free speech advocates.

Travis County Attorney Delia Garza made the announcement Wednesday during a press conference explaining the decision was based on a number of factors, including whether they would be able to obtain a conviction by a jury.

“After weighing all the evidence, we cannot meet our legal burden to prove these 79 criminal trespass cases beyond a reasonable doubt and they will be dismissed,” she said.

The protest erupted at the school as many had at universities across the United States and Canada in support of Palestinians and in criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The protesters were generally demanding that their schools divest from Israel and companies that support its military.

On April 29, law enforcement officers rounded up protesters who were demonstrating on the South Lawn of the UT-Austin campus in a police action directed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and at the request for assistance by the school. The school said some were arrested for criminal trespass while other were arrested for disorderly conduct.

Abbott has been a vocal critic of the protesters, calling for demonstrators to be arrested and describing their demonstration as “hate-filled” and “anti-Semitic.”

The arrests on April 29 came days after more than two dozen protesting on campus were arrested.

The local Palestine Solidarity Committee behind the protest accused Abbott and the police of violating their First Amendment rights. Garza on Wednesday seemingly chastised the Republican governor for his actions that day.

“The decisions that were made in response to these protests continue to show, as I’ve said before, the severe lack of leadership we expect from our leaders, as they continue to prioritize extreme government overreach over actual public safety,” she said.

This is the second time Garza has dismissed charges filed against protesters arrested that day, with the first batch being thrown out shortly after the police action on the grounds of lacking probable cause.

She told reporters that the charges dismissed Wednesday were all for criminal trespass and that some cases resulting from April’s arrest are still under review.

“The decision is a relief for the students, their families and civil rights and free speech organizations,” Shaimaa Zayan, Austin operations manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.

“We hope that the dismissal of these charges will prompt the UT Austin administration to reconsider any disciplinary actions against the students. Attorney Garza’s statement highlighted the undue influence of the governor and the UT Austin administration in the arrests. We share her wish that the situation had been handled differently.”

UPI has contacted both UT-Austin and Austin’s branch of the Palestine Solidarity Committee for comment.

Late last week, Manhattan District Attorney’s Office dismissed charges laid against 31 of 46 pro-Palestinians charged with trespassing in connection to last month’s demonstrations inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall.

The office said 14 of the defendants were offered to have their charges dismissed if they avoided arrest over the next six months, an offer the demonstrators rejected.