Attorney General announces criminal charges against 11 protesters

The office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) has announced criminal charges against 11 individuals connected to the Gaza solidarity encampment set up on the University of Michigan Diag last spring. According to a Thursday press release from Nessel’s office, most of those charged are University of Michigan students and alumni. 

Nessel charged two of the 11 with trespassing due to failure to evacuate the encampment, which carries a maximum 30-day sentence. Seven others were charged with trespassing and an additional count of resisting or obstructing a police officer, a felony that can result in up to two years in prison. 

The office charged the remaining two people for allegedly disturbed the encampment and its surrounding areas on April 25 in two separate incidents. A U-M alum was charged with disturbing the peace for allegedly kicking over Israeli flags and attempted ethnic intimidation, a maximum one-year misdemeanor. In the other incident, a man allegedly took and broke multiple flags belonging to counter-protesters, for which he was charged with two counts of malicious destruction of personal property, a 93-day misdemeanor. 

The solidarity encampment remained in the Diag for about a month before the Ann Arbor Police Department and the Division of Public Safety and Security removed it May 21. According to the press release, DPSS officers read a dispersal order at 5:38 a.m. that day and gave students 10 minutes to clear the area. This decision to sweep the encampment was made after the U-M Fire Marshal Andrew Box observed fire hazards at the site during an inspection in May, including a generator and multiple significantly overloaded electrical devices. Box reported the large volume of tents and makeshift fencing would have prevented a quick escape.

The TAHRIR Coalition, a group consisting of more than 90 pro-Palestine student organizations including Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, said in a statement following the removal of the encampment that the fire marshal never visited the encampment, and that there were no open flames or overloaded power outlets. 

In the statement, the coalition also said the group at the encampment received no communication from the offices involved in its removal. According to the press release, U-M officials met with students present at the encampment 11 times over the course of 20 days to discuss policy violations and the University’s intention to remove the encampment. 

Nessel’s department also conducted a review of protests that took place on March 25 outside Hill Auditorium and April 22 outside the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and declined to prosecute any individuals involved.

According to the press release, the department is currently investigating protests that occurred at the homes of multiple University regents on May 15. 

Daily Staff Reporter Ava Chatlosh can be reached at chatlosh@umich.edu.

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