A judge dismissed the cases of the 71 Arizona State University Pro-Palestine protesters without prejudice during hearings Tuesday at the Ocotillo Regional Court Center.
Attorneys for the protesters repeatedly asked the judge to dismiss the case with prejudice but was denied, leaving the door open for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to file charges at a later date.
“The state now has up to a year to file formal charges, so everyone here is going to be anxiously waiting to see what happens within the next year — not only that, had the judge dismissed with prejudice we would’ve had finality,” Zayed Al-Sayyed, one of several attorneys representing the protesters told reporters after the decision.
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The judge said ASU police never submitted any charging recommendations, which led to his decision to dismiss the cases without prejudice.
Out of the 71 protesters, only 20 were ASU students — all of whom were placed on interim suspension.
Breanna Brocker was an ASU senior but said the suspension from her participation in the protest caused her to miss her last final and ultimately not be able to graduate.
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“I’m glad the charges are dropped, I’m a little upset they were dropped without prejudice,” Brocker said. “I truly thought ASU stood up for our rights to assemble, our rights to free speech — I’ve seen protesters on campus before.”
For those arrested, ASU said many protesters set up illegal encampments and didn’t remove them despite repeated warnings.
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The university told ABC15 students can ask for their suspension to be lifted or modified, and the school will work with them — something Brocker said she is in the process of doing.
“That’s with the student's rights and responsibilities office, I’m in the process of that but I don’t know how long that is going to be and I’ve just kind of been left with a lot of questions regarding it,” She said.
But despite the legal victory, it’s a waiting game to see what the university will do with the suspensions and it remains to be seen whether the county attorney will end up pressing any charges over the next year.
