By Tammy Grubb and Korie Dean
The Charlotte Observer plea deal pro-Palestinian protesters online news
The Charlotte Observer — All of the protesters who were charged at an April pro-Palestinian demonstration on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus have been offered plea deals, their attorney said Tuesday.
Now they have to decide whether to take them.
District Attorney Jeff Nieman has offered plea deals ranging from deferred prosecution to a conditional discharge, said attorney Gina Balamucki. That would dismisses the defendants’ charges after they complete roughly 24 to 36 hours of community service and pay any fines.
UNC police have charged 39 people since April when a four-day “Gaza solidarity encampment” was shut down on Polk Place, including six who were arrested and taken to the Orange County jail.
Three UNC students were among the six people arrested and charged with trespassing and other offenses, including resist, delay and obstruct and assault on a law enforcement officer.
At least 30 demonstrators were cited for trespassing and were released on campus.
plea deal pro-Palestinian protesters online news
The defendants are still discussing whether to accept the deals, Balamucki said, adding there’s “a really strong desire to not leave people behind with higher charges.”
During a rally ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, organizers read a statement that said, in part, they wanted to use a “collective defense” and leverage their power as a group to support each other through the court proceedings.
“Everyone feels that they were engaged in First Amendment-protected activity and that any assault charges, any higher-level charges are bogus,” Balamucki said.
Balamucki said she was “a little surprised” that Nieman had not offered to dismiss any charges, saying the move is “unlike many other cities in the country.”
Balamucki said all of the protesters will appear in court again on Aug. 26 in Hillsborough. At that time, those charged can choose to accept the deal or ask for a trial date.
Supporters rally outside courthouse
About 30 people gathered outside of the Chapel Hill courthouse on Franklin Street Tuesday to support those appearing in court and to call for the charges to be dropped “unconditionally.” A handful read a statement about the charges and their broader beliefs about the war.
plea deal pro-Palestinian protesters online news
“We, a group of people facing repressive criminal charges from the UNC-Chapel Hill administration as part of their effort to crush our movement, want to also express several unified positions that we take as defendants and as members of the local and global fight for Palestinian liberation,” the statement read.
Since the war in Gaza began last October, the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine has called on UNC to disclose and divest from investments it holds in companies supporting Israel and to end study abroad programs to Israel, among other demands. The group organized the encampment this spring to further their cause.
Myri, a UNC student from Greensboro who only provided a first name because of fears that they could be doxxed online and on social media, spoke with The News & Observer about the war.
It’s sometimes “hard for me to keep going with the atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank,” they said, noting scenes of children and babies killed by Israeli bullets and rockets and the alleged rape of a Palestinian prisoner. It was especially disheartening to see the standing ovation Israeli Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu got in Congress last week, they said.
“Things like this, the community that we have here is really what keeps me going … having a wonderful space to talk with people, share the ways we’ve been feeling and try to strategize and look at what we can do to do as much as we can to prevent more loss and suffering,” Myri said.
Potential for more activity this fall
Tuesday’s hearing was the latest development in months-long activism on campus.
plea deal pro-Palestinian protesters online news
The arrests at April’s encampment sparked another protest during which protesters returned to campus, breaking down barriers that police and UNC employees had erected and launching an hours-long faceoff over an American flag on the campus flagpole.
A group of fraternity brothers who prevented the flag from being replaced a second time has received international praise, including an appearance at the Republican National Convention and a mention from Netanyahu in his address to Congress.
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Protesters marched peacefully down Franklin Street and around the campus a few days later, before returning with hundreds of supporters during the university’s May 11 commencement.
Elected officials in Chapel Hill and Carrboro joined them in condemning the university’s use of “aggressive police tactics” and called for the charges to be dropped.
The May rally held by the UNC SJP chapter denounced the school administration, U.S. politicians, and the Israeli government. It also included a “People’s Graduation” on Franklin Street to celebrate UNC seniors who were suspended because of their charges. That afternoon, individuals covered South Building, which houses the chancellor’s office, with oil-based red paint and pro-Palestinian messages.
plea deal pro-Palestinian protesters online news
Records show UNC Police applied for a warrant two days later for UNC SPJ’s private Instagram account information, seeking a range of details, including subscription information, direct messages and location data. Campus spokesperson Kevin Best said the warrant was part of a criminal investigation into the South Building graffiti and vandalism, but no charges had been brought as of mid-July.
Classes resume at UNC for the fall semester in mid-August. Myri said they and other students have deals with UNC officials to lift their suspension on returning to campus but remain on a probationary status. However, some seniors arrested have not yet received their diplomas, they said, and Myri said one friend had lost their scholarship because of an arrest.
“The UNC administration made it clear that the presumption of innocence does not apply,” Myri said.
Reem Subei, an attorney representing the student disciplinary cases, said those who are waiting for their diplomas, including one who participated in the April 29 protest but was not charged, could get them by the end of the year.
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plea deal pro-Palestinian protesters online news