12 pro-Palestinian protesters at Stanford face felony charges

A group of pro-Palestinian protesters at Stanford University were charged with felonies Thursday after taking over a campus building last year.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced it has charged 12 people, ranging in age from 19-32, with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass.

The office said the demonstrators did hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage after they broke windows and furniture, splashed fake blood and disabled security cameras during their takeover of the facility.

“Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “There is a bright line between making a point and committing a crime. These defendants crossed the line into criminality when they broke into those offices, barricaded themselves inside, and started a calculated plan of destruction.”

The incident happened last June at Building 10 when the activists broke in and barricaded themselves inside. Items found on the protesters included food, an electric grinder, hammers, crowbars, chisels, screwdrivers, goggles, numerous straps and cables.

There was a student journalist with the protesters who was not charged because they did not participate with the vandalism.

A review of cellphone records showed the dozen individuals had detailed plans to take over the building.

If they are convicted, they could face incarceration and restitution.

The pro-Palestinian protests led to about 2,000 arrests on campuses across the country, with multiple universities seeing individuals take over a campus building.  

The Trump administration has taken a hard line against last year’s demonstrations, seeking to deport international students who participated and cutting the funding of several universities it says failed to protect their campus communities from antisemitism.