Get ready for a surprising turn of events: a judge has released all the pro-Palestinian protesters who were arrested at the University of Florida campus. This unexpected decision has caught many by surprise and has sparked a lot of discussion. Let’s dive in and find out more about what led to this decision and what it means for the ongoing protests on campus.
Judge Released All Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested At University Of Florida Campus
Eight of the nine pro-Palestinian protesters who had been arrested on the University of Florida campus on Monday were freed from custody early on Tuesday by a court. A UF student who was the eighth protestor was still detained and charged with criminal assault.
During the arrests on Monday night, Allan Hektor Frasheri, a 20-year-old philosophy major from Dunedin, Florida, was accused of spitting on a campus police officer. His detention was a substitute for a $5,000 bond. In a coordinated effort with the university administration, police and state troopers took nine people into custody.
The institution had earlier threatened to suspend all students and expel anyone who was detained from campus for a period of three years. The school announced that teachers or staff who were arrested would be fired. All nine of the arrested protestors are already subject to trespass orders from the university, which forbid them from returning to campus until April 2027.
All 9 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at University of Florida are now out of jail, banished from campus for 3 years. At least 7 are current or recent UF students. One posted $5,000 bond on felony battery charge, accused of spitting on cop's arm https://t.co/hO32ZiPWfF pic.twitter.com/PhOxkwK8RT
— Ted Bridis (@tbridis) April 30, 2024
During nationwide protests against Israel’s military war in Gaza, where Israel has murdered over 34,000 Palestinians since Hamas launched an unexpected attack on Israel last October, they were among the first college arrests in Florida.
Earlier on Monday, three protesters were taken into custody at Tampa’s University of South Florida. In Florida, there hasn’t been any proof of the violence and vandalism that have occurred at certain nationwide university protests.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “You have a right to support or not support Israel, that’s the First Amendment. You don’t have a right to pitch a tent in the middle of campus and commandeer some of the property.” He added, “We’re not going to be sitting there, indulging this.”
Alachua County Judge Susan Miller-Jones granted the eight protesters their freedom during the court proceeding despite their misdemeanor counts of trespassing, disobeying police orders, resisting arrest, and wearing masks in public.
According to a press release from the university on Monday, many of the nine protestors on campus were “outside agitators,” but at least seven of them were current or former UF students, including Frasheri. None of the nine had a criminal past, according to Judge Miller-Jones, who released them on their own recognizance.
A broad coalition of student organizations, calling itself the UF Divestment Coalition, including the school branch of the Young Democratic Socialists of America, has coordinated the protests at UF. UF, which has an endowment of $2.4 billion, is required by the coalition to remove its holdings from companies that help Israel militarily or technically.
Professors, friends, and family members spoke in support of the accused at the court hearing on Tuesday.
The most serious charge was against Frasheri, whose mother said he wasn’t a violent person and described him as a child “every mother wishes for” in front of the judge. According to Frasheri’s partner, other people went to him for support.
According to court documents that were made available to the public on Tuesday afternoon, Frasheri spat on the campus police Officer Kristy Sasser’s right arm while she was assisting a state trooper in leaving with an arrested protester.
Frasheri’s bond is being raised, according to the organizers, and they anticipate that he will be released from custody later on Tuesday.
Refusing to leave the public university’s Plaza of the Americas when police asked, the public lawyer attempted in vain to establish in court that some of the accusations constituted double jeopardy because they concerned the same offense.
Even after a day passed, it wasn’t clear why UF police arrested the protesters after five days of demonstrations. On Thursday night, they gave out papers allowing activities like talking, expressing opinions, and holding signs. However, the written rules said no to disturbances, sleeping, tents, sleeping bags, pillows, or any permanent structures.
Shortly after the police and troopers began arresting the protesters, the university sent an email statement to reporters. Spokesman Steve Orlando said, “The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children – they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences.”
Some other people arrested at UF included Tess Jaden Segal, 20, from Weston, Florida, majoring in sustainability; Augustino Matthias Pulliam, 20, from Jacksonville, Florida, a former theater major; Charly Keanu Pringle, 21, from Jacksonville; Parker Stanley Hovis, 26, from Naples, Florida, majoring in computer science.
Others arrested are Keely Nicole Gliwa, 23, from Gainesville, Florida, majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology; Roseanna Yashoda Bisram, 20, from Ocala, Florida, studying engineering studies; Jinx Rooney, 23, from Valrico, Florida; and Ember Boerboom, 24, from Chesapeake, Virginia, a former philosophy major.
Court documents gave Boerboom’s name as Mary Caitlin Boerboom and Rooney’s name as Allison Marie Rooney.
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