Charges have been dropped against 46 of the 57 people arrested at Wednesday’s pro-Palestine protest at UT-Austin.
Those arrested were charged with criminal trespass after UT officials ordered the protesters to disperse. The 57 protesters were booked into the Travis County Jail, according to The Texas Tribune.
Defense attorneys raised concerns about “deficiencies” in the arrest affidavits and Travis County Attorney Delia Garza said law enforcement lacked probable cause in the 46 cases that were dismissed.
Garza’s office will continue to review individual cases to “determine whether prosecution is factually and legally appropriate,” a spokeswoman for Garza said.
“We are working with defense attorneys of those arrested as we continue to investigate each case and determine if charges are necessary,” Garza said. “We ask that anyone released not return to campus.”
On Wednesday, students gathered for a peaceful protest demanding the university to cut financial ties with Israel and companies that enable the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Department of Public Security troopers in riot gear met the students and ordered protesters to disperse, as students were moving, they began making arrests. According to DPS, the troopers responded by request from UT President Jay Hartzell and Gov. Greg Abbott.
On Thursday students gathered again to protest for a Hamas-Israel ceasefire and for the students arrested, but this time there were no DPS troopers.
Also on Thursday, the university released a statement saying there was a “significant outside group presence” at the Wednesday protest, and that the UT had acted to stop the group from paralyzing “the operations of universities across the country.”According to the UT, 26 of the people arrested were not affiliated with the university, but according to documents obtained by KUT, seven of the 11 people whose charges were not dismissed were students listed in the UT’s directory.
