Pro-Palestinian protester charged with assault after occupying building at University of Minnesota

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG The Associated Press

Pro-Palestinian protestors at Morrill Hall at The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (Credit: KSTP).

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Local prosecutors charged a pro-Palestinian protester with assault on Wednesday but didn’t file charges against 10 other people who barricaded themselves inside an administrative building at the University of Minnesota this week.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said a 23-year-old woman was charged with fourth-degree assault and was released from custody pending a future court date.

She and other protesters entered Morrill Hall on Monday where they barricaded themselves inside and vandalized the building, university officials said. A criminal complaint detailing the alleged assault was not immediately available on Wednesday.

Inside the building, protesters spray painted the lenses of all internal security cameras, broke interior windows and barricaded the building’s entrance and exit points, said Jake Ricker, a University of Minnesota spokesperson. Several staff members were working in the building at the time, and some were not able to leave for an extended period, Ricker said.

Protesters said they were not blocking access to and from the building.

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The protesters were demanding that the university divest from Israel and repeal its political neutrality agreement. The protest, like others at college campuses including earlier this year at University of Minnesota campuses, raised issues of free speech and antisemitism as students demanded that their universities cease doing business with Israel or companies they said supported the war in Gaza.

Law enforcement officials arrested 11 people who were held in jail for close to 36 hours. Minnesota law gives prosecutors 36 hours to bring charges against people. Eight of those arrested are current students and three are former students, Ricker said.

“Our office received 11 case submissions Wednesday morning related to the arrests at the University of Minnesota earlier this week and immediately authorized release from custody pending case review,” the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “After review, decisions on felony-level charges in 10 cases have been deferred pending additional routine investigation, including any information connecting specific individuals to specific acts, damages, and costs.”

An investigation is ongoing, and the 10 people who who had their charges deferred could face penalties in the future depending on what authorities uncover, the County Attorney’s Office said.