UC Irvine Protests Prompt Controversial Prosecution

9

Author: Claire Diggins

 

Eleven Muslim students were arrested on Feb. 8, 2010 for disrupting a speech by Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The college disciplined the students and the matter was considered settled until Orange County District Attorney, Tony Rackauckas, charged the students with Conspiracy to disturb a Meeting and Disturbance of a Meeting on Feb. 4, one year later. The students will be arraigned on Mar. 11, 2011 in Santa Ana. If convicted, the students may serve six months in jail.
 
The students’ arrests and trials have generated outrage and allegations of differential treatment all over the country due to their religion. Various organizations, including prominent Jewish groups, have spoken out against the DA, claiming these criminal charges are far too harsh. 
  
Rackauckas’ office was unavailable for comment but published a press release on Feb. 4 announcing the charges. 
 
“This case is being filed because there was an organized attempt to squelch the speaker, who was invited to speak to a group at UCI. These defendants meant to stop this speech and stop anyone else from hearing his ideas, and they did so by disrupting a lawful meeting. This is a clear violation of the law and failing to bring charges against this conduct would amount to a failure to uphold the Constitution,” the press release said. 
 
The students arrested were charged for shouting things like, “You are an accomplice to genocide” and “You are a war criminal” to Ambassador Oren, as well as referring to him as a “mass murderer.” Additionally, the Muslim Student Union has brought radical speakers to the UCI campus in the past, such as speakers who have, allegedly, compared Israel to Nazi Germany and accused the Israelis of carrying out a “holocaust” against the Palestinians, according to the Washington Post.
 
UCI faculty presented the DA’s office with a letter signed by over 100 faculty members asking that the charges against the students be dropped. The letter admits the students’ behavior was wrong, but that they have been sufficiently punished by the university. Due to academic privacy rights, the entirety of the university’s disciplinary actions have not been revealed, but the school did suspend the Muslim Student Union, who orchestrated the protests, for a year. The faculty also expressed its fear that such charges would set a treacherous precedent for exerting criminal law over nonviolent student protests.
 
According to the Orange County Register, representatives from 30 local Muslim, Christian, Jewish and civil rights organizations also addressed a letter to Rackauckas, claiming the charges are discriminatory and excessive. The letter expresses confusion about the “over the top” action taken by the DA and states that it seems to target a select group, further polarizing the community. 
 
“It’s symptomatic of something in our society and how we feel about Islam,” Reverend Sarah Halverson of Irvine’s Fairview Community Church said, according to the Register.
 
The DA’s office also received a petition from Jewish Voice for Peace, signed by over 5,000 people in support of the students.
 
Interim Executive Director of Communications at UCI Cathy Lawhon did not offer an opinion on the petition. 
 
“A wide variety of viewpoints have been expressed on this issue. It is not our place to comment on any of them,” Lawhon said.
 
The Communications Department at UCI also released a statement on the subject.
 
“On Friday, Feb. 4, the Orange County District Attorney announced that he was pressing charges against the 11 students arrested during the disruption of Ambassador Oren’s Feb. 8, 2010, speech. The District Attorney’s announcement reflects action independent of the University. He has subpoena power and access to information that we do not. From our perspective we thoroughly and fairly investigated and adjudicated the matter last year. Conduct violations were addressed fully, consistent with the guidelines of the Student Code of Conduct. Since the university’s resolution of this matter in the summer of 2010, our campus community has continued to build bridges of understanding and foundations for respectful and meaningful dialogue,” the statement read.
 
DA spokesperson Susan Schroeder pointed out, however, that it was the UCI campus police who brought the case to the DA, not the other way around, according to Southern California Public Radio. 
 
Lawhon disagrees with the notion that UCI is responsible.
 
“UC Irvine Police Department, as the arresting agency, simply forwarded its report to the District Attorney’s office, which has full discretion on whether or not to file charges,” Lawhon said.

This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.

Loading

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here