The Los Angeles City Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday that it had refused to file a complaint against hundreds of people arrested in Pro-Palestinian and against demonstrations on UCLA and USC campuses last year, citing insufficient evidence.
In a statement, the city’s prosecutor’s office said that after examining more than 300 arrests of mass demonstrations in April and May 2024, criminal affairs were refused for most people “for reasons of evidence or due to the failure of a university or inability to help identification or other information necessary for the prosecution”.
Accusations of offense were deposited against two people, both from alleged actions on the UCLA campus which were “separated and separated from the protest”, although no specificity on their individual actions has been provided. The two people were charged with a simple battery, while we were also responsible for brandishing a deadly weapon other than a firearm. The other person has also been charged with false imprisonment and to resist or obstruct a peace agent.
Three other people have been referred to a city prosecutor hearing, which is a diversion procedure designed to be an alternative to prosecution.
“After an attentive examination, we file criminal charges against two people and send three others to hearings of city prosecutors,” said the city’s prosecutor, Hydee Feldstein Soto, in a statement. “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.”
The office refused to file a complaint resulting from 205 arrests carried out on May 1 and 5, 2024, at the UCLA, as well as 40 other people carried out at the UCLA on May 6, 2024. It also refused to file a complaint resulting from 93 arrests made during a mass demonstration on April 24 at the USC.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
