Trespassing charges have been dropped for all nine anti-war protesters arrested at U of M

The nine protesters who were arrested after refusing to leave the anti-war protest camps set up on April 23 on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus no longer face criminal charges.

According to court documents for each protester, charges of trespassing and refusing to leave were dismissed Friday. The reason for the dismissal was ‘prosecution discretion’.

Sasmit Rahman, a former U student, was one of nine people arrested after setting up camps on campus in support of the Palestinian people. She said lawyers representing the group of protesters informed her on Sunday that the case had been dismissed, ahead of scheduled court appearances on Tuesday.

“It really speaks to the pressure the board was under. I know from our correspondence that the university was particularly concerned that we would do something that would disrupt students’ final exams or the commencement ceremony. And so I think they were very desperate to negotiate with us, and that’s why they acceded to so many of our demands. And I think this is an incredible victory for the coalition,” Rahman said.

U of M is one of the first universities in the country to reach a deal with pro-Palestinian protesters that will end protests on campus.

As part of the agreement struck with camp organizers last week, the U of M said it would advocate for leniency for those arrested by university police, the majority of whom are current students.

“The University is committed to advocating with the Minneapolis City Attorney for flexible remedies for those previously arrested in connection with last week’s encampment, with any related University disciplinary process providing an informal, educational remedy. The university’s addressing the matter through our disciplinary process will likely be relevant to the city attorney’s assessment of whether pursuing criminal remedies is necessary,” Jeff Ettinger, interim president of the U of M, said in the statement Thursday.

“That approach is based on balancing priorities around personal safety, freedom of expression and achieving necessary compliance with university policies and state and federal law,” U of M spokesperson Jake Ricker told MPR News on Thursday. The U declined to comment further on Monday.