As the Trump administration fights to deport students who support the Palestinian people, dozens more face extreme charges in local courts.
Last spring, students across the country gathered to demand an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Police responded by arresting more than 3,200 demonstrators.
The Appeal reviewed charges levied against thousands of people arrested at last spring’s protests. We identified nearly 40 cases where protesters have faced serious felony charges, including allegedly committing a hate crime on a law enforcement officer, mob action, and attempted ethnic intimidation.
Some protesters are facing years of prison time. Many more are dealing with the collateral consequences of criminal charges. Even when charges are dismissed, having an arrest record can make it difficult to get housing or employment. In some cases, international students have been forced to leave the country after university sanctions prevented them from meeting their student visa requirements.
“Students speaking out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza should not face criminalization and lifelong consequences for their activism,” said Hafsa Haider, communications coordinator for CAIR-Chicago, in a statement shared with The Appeal.
Alexandra Weiner, a former faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, is among the many demonstrators who have had their lives upended by university administrators and local prosecutors for speaking out against genocide. She had been attending a PhD program in Canada, but has had to pause her studies to deal with her charges.
Weiner told The Appeal that Pitt’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had been trying to meet with Chancellor Joan Gabel for months to ask that the school disclose its investments, divest from companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and support Palestinians. Weiner said Gabel never met with SJP.
Like many other universities, Pitt ultimately called the police on its own students and later suspended SJP over a separate incident. SJP is suing the university for violating students’ First Amendment rights.
“These events took place the first week of June,” Weiner said of the arrests at Pitt’s encampment. “There wasn’t a warrant out for my arrest until January 15. By that time, I had moved to Canada.”
Weiner is Jewish and grew up attending Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue, where a right-wing extremist shot and killed 11 people in 2018. Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala’s office charged both Weiner and her brother, who also attended Pittsburgh protests, with felony aggravated assault. Weiner’s brother lost his job and is no longer able to teach at Pittsburgh public schools as a result of the charges.
“I was at the time, I believe, the only Jewish trans woman faculty person at Pitt,” Weiner said. “For the university to attempt to smear me and my brother as antisemitic and threaten me with a men’s prison is particularly abhorrent.”
Prosecutors offered a handful of demonstrators deals to plead guilty to lesser misdemeanor charges—or have their charges dropped if they comply with extensive diversion agreements. But even a misdemeanor conviction can prevent someone from being allowed into Canada.
Weiner said she found out about her charges while she was still abroad and was unable to return home to see her family for two and a half months as a result.
“I now have a pending felony charge, which means I fail most background checks for jobs,” Weiner said. “If a landlord searches my name, they can deny me housing based on that charge. I’m still living on friends’ couches with no job, even though I have a Master’s degree.”
SPJ Pittsburgh has launched a campaign to drop the charges against the protesters and raise funds for their legal fees.
In at least five states, protesters are being threatened with extreme charges:
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In Illinois, Champaign County State Attorney Julia Rietz charged eight people with mob action, a felony that carries a three-year prison sentence. Rietz also charged one protester with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer for allegedly touching a police officer’s wrist. The charge carries a minimum sentence of four years and a maximum of 15.
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In Florida, Hillsborough County State Attorney Suzy Lopez charged at least six people with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm. In Florida, resisting an officer with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, and aggravated assault are felonies that each carry five-year prison sentences.
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In Pennsylvania, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala filed felony aggravated assault and rioting charges against more than a dozen University of Pittsburgh protesters. Rioting is punishable by up to seven years in prison. Aggravated assault carries a potential 10-year sentence.
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In Michigan, state Attorney General Dana Nessel took cases from the local district attorney and filed felony charges, including resisting a police officer and attempted ethnic intimidation, against seven protesters. Students face up to two years in prison.
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In Louisiana, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams has yet to make a charging decision against the dozen protesters who were arrested for allegedly committing a hate crime on a law enforcement officer, battery on a police officer, resisting arrest with violence, and a slew of other charges. Hate crime on a law enforcement officer carries a potential five-year prison sentence.
Overall, prosecutors in these five jurisdictions have filed or are considering filing at least 187 charges—58 felonies, 123 misdemeanors, and six civil citations—against 66 people.
