Stanford Pro-Palestine Protesters' Felony Charges Dismissed

Top photo: Victorious defendant addresses the crowd.
All photos by Len.

The Attorney General of California concluded a closely watched case against student demonstrators on Monday morning.

Students for Justice in Palestine wrote: "Stanford and the SCDA [Santa Clara County District Attorney] were ultimately defeated because the public consensus on Palestine has been forever changed since October 7, 2023: The global majority demands an end to genocide, an end to settler colonialism, and the full freedom and liberation of Palestine. Stanford’s future legacy, or lack thereof, will be defined by this moment forever."

In June 2024, a group of Stanford students and alumni broke into the university president’s office and barricaded themselves inside. Their goal was to pressure Stanford leaders to “address their role in enabling and profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

These brave demonstrators were part of a large group of campus protests across the U.S. intended to pressure schools to divest from companies supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Their action led to 13 arrests and was quickly followed by the dismantling of a pro-Palestinian encampment on Stanford's campus.

Amongst twelve protesters who faced charges, six agreed to enter mental health diversion programs or planned to take court-ordered deals of lesser misdemeanor charges. That left five who chose to go to trial in hopes of winning what turned out to be a two-year journey to victory.

The California Attorney General was assigned the case after Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen was barred from it due to conflict of interest. It was determined that he had used the case to promote his own campaign fundraising, advertising that he was "fighting anti-semitism".