The Office of the City Prosecutor of Los Angeles will not deposit criminal charges against the vast majority of demonstrators arrested at the UCLA and the USC during the mass demonstrations of last year on the war in Gaza, according to a written declaration published on Friday.
City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto said that even if his office had received more than 300 arrest references made during last spring demonstrations on the two campuses, only two people would be charged. Three other people will be referred to the informal prosecutor procedure.
“Most of these cases have been refused for evidence or due to the failure of a university or inability to help identify or other information necessary for prosecution,” said the declaration of his office.
The two suspects faced with criminal charges were identified as Edan on And Matthew Katz.
According to the prosecutor’s prosecutor’s office. Most of these accusations are crimes.
Both were arrested for their alleged conduct at the UCLA.
The case of the suite was initially managed by the office of the County Prosecutor of Los Angeles, who Delayed the case in Soto After he could not establish a reasonable doubt that his presumed conduct directly injured another person.
Three others – identified as Ali Abuamouneh, Karla Maria Aguilar and David Fischel – were sent to the city prosecutor’s hearings, which are informal procedures conducted as an alternative to criminal prosecution for offense, according to the press release.
Abuamouneh and Aguilar were arrested at the USC while Fischel was arrested at the UCLA.
The decision to deposit occurs a year after the university campuses became a front of the stage for stretched debates on the war in Gaza which broke out after activists led by Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 – killing around 1,200 people, mainly civilians and taking around 250 people hostage.
The Gaza Ministry of Health says the Israel’s offensive killed more than 51,000 Palestinians.
Some of Soto’s news have been received positively.
The Bureau of the Grand Los Angeles Region of the American-Islamic Relations Council (CAIR-La) praised the filing of criminal accusations against.
“For too long, our communities have required the responsibility of the brutal assault against peaceful demonstrators, largely led by students – an assault that left several wounded and traumatized while the police stood and did not intervene,” said Dina Chehata, a lawyer for the management of civil rights of Cair -La. “This deposit is an important step, but this is only the first step.”
Amelia Jones, professor and vice-dean of teachers and research at the Roski School of Art and Design of the USC, expressed his support for Soto’s decision not to file a complaint against most of the demonstrators.
“(His) Decision not to file a criminal complaint on the vast majority of students arrested by LAPD on the USC campus last spring ratifying the student and the right of the faculty to protest as a legitimate speech exercise,” in his words, “she wrote in a statement in Times. “As a supporter of the students and someone who attended the entirely peaceful demonstrations almost every day, I am delighted to see this problem solved and the freedom of expression ratified.”
SOTO said that his office had received more than 300 references of arrests processed during demonstrations on the two campuses in April and May 2024.
SOTO said that the UCLA police service had returned 245 arrests and that all had been refused for the deposit due to insufficient evidence.
She said the Los Angeles police service had referred to 93 USC processes. These cases were also refused for the deposit due to insufficient evidence.
“I would like to thank the lawyers for my criminal power for their dedication to the rule of law and their commitment to objectively assess the evidence and references received on each of these questions,” said Soto.
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