Pro-Palestinian demonstrators who occupied Stanford building are charged with felonies

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were arrested at Stanford University last year after they occupied and allegedly caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to a campus building are now facing charges.

The twelve people, current and former Stanford students, have been charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday in a news release.

Those charged range in age from 19 to 32, the DA’s office said. They will be arraigned later this month at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.

A student journalist, who was arrested with the protesters but was not accused of participating in the vandalism, was not charged.

The Stanford takeover began around dawn on June 5, 2024, the last day of spring classes at the university in California’s Silicon Valley. Some protesters barricaded themselves inside the building, which houses the university president’s office. Others linked arms outside, The Stanford Daily reported at the time. The group chanted “Palestine will be free, we will free Palestine.”

The takeover ended three hours later.

Prosecutors accuse the demonstrators of spray-painting on the building, breaking windows and furniture, disabling security cameras and splattering a red liquid described as fake blood on items throughout the building. Damages were estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to prosecutors.

Cellphones belonging to those arrested showed communications about the planning of the operation, including a “do-it-yourself occupation guide,” prosecutors said.

The AP recorded at least 86 incidents last spring in which arrests were made at college or university campus protests against the war in Gaza across the U.S.