Charges to be dropped against anti-Israel protesters who occupied Stanford building

Five pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrators whose trial earlier this year over a 2024 protest at Stanford University ended in a mistrial will have their charges dismissed if they complete community service and pay restitution, prosecutors said Monday.

The defendants — one current and four former Stanford students — were among thousands of demonstrators arrested on campuses nationwide in 2024 during protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Most criminal charges were dismissed, but the Stanford students went to trial in Santa Clara County.

The five defendants faced felony charges of vandalism and conspiracy to trespass after demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the offices of the university president and provost for several hours on June 5, 2024.

Prosecutors said at the time the charges were filed that at least one suspect entered the building by breaking a window. Police arrested 13 people on June 5, 2024, in relation to the incident, and the university said the building sustained “extensive” damage.

Protesters had renamed the building “Dr. Adnan’s Office” after Adnan Al-Bursh, a Palestinian doctor who died in an Israeli prison after months of detention.

Protests sprang up on campuses across the country in 2024 over the Israel-Hamas conflict, with students setting up camps and demanding their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its war efforts against Hamas. About 3,200 people were arrested nationwide that year.

While some colleges ended demonstrations by striking deals with students or simply waited them out, others called in police. Most criminal charges were ultimately dismissed.

Some Jewish students said the protests veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.

In February, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors could not reach a verdict. Twelve protesters were initially charged with felony vandalism. Seven of them previously accepted plea deals or diversion programs.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen had said he planned to pursue a new trial, but defense attorneys successfully argued that he and his office should be removed from the case. They cited concerns including comments by Rosen and campaign fundraising for his reelection that tied the prosecution to fighting antisemitism.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kelley Paul removed Rosen in May and ordered the attorney general’s office to take over the case.

Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said Monday that the defendants must pay a combined restitution of about $52,000 to the university and each must complete 100 hours of community service. The restitution has been fully paid, according to a statement on behalf of the demonstrators.

Santa Clara County Deputy Public Defender Avi Singh, who represented one of the defendants, said all had “made full restitution and agreed to complete substantial community service so they can move forward with their lives,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“As this saga comes to an end, we are humbled by the outpouring of community support, and we look again to Gaza, the compass of our struggle, to reaffirm our commitment to solidarity,” defendant Germán González said in the statement.

Seven other defendants have already been given various forms of diversion or deferred entry of judgment by the courts in the Stanford case.