City prosecutors decide not to press charges against UCSD protesters in the Gaza Strip

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The San Diego City Attorney’s Office has decided not to file charges against 64 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at an encampment on the UC San Diego campus back in May.

In an email to ABC 10News, Andrew Sharp, director of communications for the city attorney’s office, wrote that prosecutors came to this conclusion after reviewing “substantial body camera footage and all other available evidence” over the past five months.

Sharp says the city attorney may reconsider filing charges within the statute of limitations, as he does with all other cases he handles.

None of the people arrested at the camp were arrested for violence, stalking, threats or possession of illegal substances or weapons, the email said.

“As prosecutors, we have to come to the conclusion that we can prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt before we file charges,” Sharp says. “We are concerned that the community has not received accurate information regarding this Office’s handling of UCSD matters.”
Lawyers for the protesting students pointed out problems with evidence they used during UCSD’s disciplinary proceedings and indicated they would use it again in potential criminal proceedings, the email said.

The city attorney’s office cited a KPBS article that indicated that the arrest report the university used against protesters appeared to have been copied and pasted everywhere. KPBS interrupts school disciplinary hearing process; UCSD will have to call a witness to corroborate any written reports used against students, and students will have the opportunity to cross-examine them.

KPBS reported that in one case, a witness called against a student was a campus police officer; however, it was not the officer who made the arrest, and the student shouted it out during the cross.
Sharp says the city attorney’s office has told the defense attorney it can reopen cases before the one-year statute of limitations expires if “criminal activity is involved.”

The arrests occurred on the morning of May 6 as police were dismantling tents at the Gaza Solidarity camp on the campus of the University of California, San Francisco. Of the 64 people arrested, 40 were students and the rest had no connection to the university, UCSD 10News reported at the time.

The students were disciplined by the university for their participation in the protest.

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