+34Non-student protesters charged with criminal trespass at Palestine rally prohibited from UT Austin campus
People who received criminal trespass notices during a pro- Palestine rally Wednesday at the University of Texas at Austin and who were not affiliated with the school are prohibited from returning to campus, regardless of whether their charges were dropped, a university spokesperson said Friday.
Students who received criminal trespass notices are not currently affected by the stipulation, a distinction that was not originally clear on a list of protest rules distributed on campus earlier in the week and first obtained by the Austin American-Statesman. Those rules existed prior to the rally, UT spokesperson Mike Rosen told the outlet. READ MORE: UT Austin faculty rally behind pro-Palestinian protesters as university defends crackdown 'For the last two days, The University of Texas provided an abbreviated list of rules related to conduct during protests, including typical consequences as a result of being arrested for criminal trespassing,' the university said in a statement. 'This notice was provided as a courtesy to all protesters — students and non-University affiliated persons — to help them understand potential consequences for decisions to violate University rules.' No students have received notices of interim disciplinary action stemming from the Wednesday protest, Rosen said. In any event where a student does receive an interim disciplinary action – such as for an alleged criminal trespass – they would still be allowed on campus to fulfill academic responsibilities and access university resources upon approval, a UT spokesman told the Houston Chronicle. A student can appeal the resulting action per the student code of conduct. It was not immediately clear how many people would be banned from campus. The Travis County Sheriff's Office reported that 57 people were booked into jail for protest-related arrests, and attorneys said 46 were arrested on charges of criminal trespass, a misdemeanor which alleged that the protesters failed to heed warnings to disperse. A magistrate judge rejected the criminal trespass charges for lack of probable cause, Travis County Attorney Delia Garza said Thursday. A UT spokesperson has said about half of the people who broke university rules on Wednesday were not affiliated with the school. The Office of the Dean of Students at UT-Austin on Tuesday called for protest organizers to cancel the rally, saying it appeared “intent to violate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations,” according to a letter it sent. The university pointed to the organizers’ mention of other campus protests of the war in Gaza, in which students have erected encampments on campus. It also noted that organizers had urged attendees to bring face masks in violation of a university rule that forbids students from concealing their identity to obstruct law enforcement. UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell said Wednesday that the university had stepped in to prevent students from similar attempts to “occupy” campus. The Department of Public Safety said it sent state troopers to campus at the request of the university and at Abbott's direction. Austin police and the university's own police force also responded to the demonstration and made arrests. UT-Austin has since placed the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the group that organized the protest, on an interim suspension. The Office of the Dean of Students handles disciplinary issues at UT. This story is developing.
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Palestine Solidarity Committee Travis County Sheriff's Office Department Of Public Safety Dean Of Students Delia Garza Jay Hartzell Abbott Palestine Travis County Austin Gaza Pro-Palestine
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