The Los Angeles metropolis legal professional’s workplace is not going to file prison prices towards the overwhelming majority of protesters arrested at UCLA and USC throughout final 12 months’s mass demonstrations over the warfare in Gaza, based on a written assertion launched Friday.
Metropolis Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto mentioned that whereas her workplace acquired greater than 300 referrals from arrests made throughout final spring’s demonstrations at each campuses, solely two individuals can be charged. Three others can be referred to casual prosecutorial proceedings.
“Most of those instances had been declined for evidentiary causes or because of a college’s failure or incapability to help in identification or different data wanted for prosecution,” the assertion from her workplace reads.
The 2 suspects dealing with prison prices had been recognized as Edan On and Matthew Katz.
On, a pro-Israel demonstrator, was charged with battery and assault with a lethal weapon and Katz was charged with battery, false imprisonment and resisting arrest, based on the town legal professional’s workplace. Most of these prices are misdemeanors.
Each had been arrested for his or her alleged conduct at UCLA.
On’s case was initially dealt with by the Los Angeles County district legal professional’s workplace, which deferred the case to Soto after it couldn’t set up past an inexpensive doubt that his alleged conduct straight injured one other individual.
Three others — recognized as Ali Abuamouneh, Karla Maria Aguilar and David Fischel — had been despatched to metropolis legal professional hearings, that are casual proceedings performed as an alternative choice to a misdemeanor prison prosecution, based on the assertion.
Abuamouneh and Aguilar had been arrested at USC whereas Fischel was arrested at UCLA.
The submitting determination comes a 12 months after college campuses grew to become middle stage for tense debates over the warfare in Gaza that broke out after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — killing an estimated 1,200 individuals, largely civilians, and taking about 250 individuals hostage.
Gaza’s Well being Ministry says that Israel’s offensive has killed greater than 51,000 Palestinians.
Information of Soto’s determination was acquired positively by some.
The Larger Los Angeles Space workplace of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) welcomed the submitting of prison prices towards On.
“For much too lengthy, our communities have demanded accountability for the brutal assault on peaceable, largely student-led demonstrators — an assault that left a number of injured and traumatized whereas regulation enforcement stood by and didn’t intervene,” mentioned Dina Chehata, a CAIR-LA civil rights managing legal professional. “This submitting is a vital step, however it’s only step one.”
Amelia Jones, a professor and vice dean of college and analysis at USC’s Roski Faculty of Artwork and Design, expressed help for Soto’s determination to not file prices towards most protesters.
“[Her] determination to not file prison prices on the overwhelming majority of scholars arrested by LAPD on USC’s campus final spring ratifies the scholar and college proper to protest as a elementary and lawful ‘train of speech,’ in her phrases,” she wrote in an announcement to The Instances. “As a supporter of the scholars and somebody who attended the completely peaceable protests nearly day by day, I’m thrilled to see this concern resolved and freedom of speech ratified.”
Soto mentioned her workplace acquired greater than 300 referrals from arrests made through the protests on the two campuses in April and Could 2024.
Soto mentioned the UCLA Police Division referred 245 arrests and all had been declined for submitting because of inadequate proof.
She mentioned the Los Angeles Police Division referred 93 arrests made at USC. These instances had been additionally declined for submitting because of inadequate proof.
“I wish to thank the attorneys in my Legal Department for his or her dedication to the rule of regulation and their dedication to objectively evaluating the proof and referrals acquired on every of those issues,” Soto mentioned.
