Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last week dropped most of the 46 cases against pro-Palestinian protesters who had been charged in connection with the April 30 occupation of Columbia University's Hamilton Hall, because prosecutors found there was little evidence the cases could stand trial.
Doug Cohen, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said in a statement that there was limited video footage showing what happened inside campus buildings, and because protesters wore masks and covered security cameras, prosecutors were unable to identify who blocked doors and smashed chairs, desks and windows during the 17-hour occupation.
The district attorney announced the decision not to prosecute 31 of the 46 counts during a court hearing Thursday. Other than trespass, which is a misdemeanor, the other criminal charges would be “extremely difficult” to prove, Cohen said.
For similar reasons, prosecutors also dropped charges against nine of the 22 City College students and staff members who were arrested and charged with theft inside campus buildings during a protest the same night as the Hamilton Hall arrests.
Six other people arrested outside the building remain facing criminal charges: five are charged with second-degree assault (felony offenses) and one is charged with fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon (misdemeanor).
The April 30 protests began with a weeks-long camp on Columbia University's South Lawn. The camp sparked similar demonstrations on college campuses across the country and resulted in hundreds of arrests. As the end of the academic year approached, protesters made a range of demands, including a call for Columbia to divest from Israel, at times clashing with counterprotesters and police.
The university's decision to call in police to clear Hamilton Hall drew both outrage and praise. Mayor Eric Adams blamed the occupation on “outside agitators” who he said were trying to “radicalize” peaceful students. Most of the 282 people arrested at Columbia University and City College were students or university staff, and most received summonses, but the rest faced criminal charges, primarily for trespassing.
Cohen said all of the protesters whose cases were dropped were affiliated with the schools. The schools may still discipline those whose criminal charges were dropped, but cases involving more serious charges, such as assaulting police officers, remain ongoing, Cohen said.
In New York City, prosecutors often drop cases against protesters charged with minor offenses during mass arrests. Under former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., 680 cases against 732 people arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge during the Occupy Wall Street protests in 2011 were dropped. Nearly 5,000 police summonses issued during Black Lives Matter demonstrations citywide in 2020 were also dropped under Vance.
Bragg, a Democrat who will take office in 2022 and recently won a criminal case against former President Donald J. Trump, has focused on prosecuting more serious crimes. In his first week in office, he faced criticism for instructing prosecutors to ask judges for jail or prison sentences only for serious crimes such as murder, sexual assault and major financial crimes, unless otherwise required by law (he revised that policy the following month).
Martin R. Stoller, a Manhattan lawyer and former president of the New York chapter of the American Lawyers Guild who has defended protesters for 50 years, said Bragg's decision last week was expected and a “wise use of prosecutorial resources.”
The protesters at Columbia University and City College, most of whom were students, “weren't throwing bombs, shooting people, robbing people or selling drugs,” Stoller said.
“If you evaluate this against the backdrop of the arrest, this is not a serious crime,” he added. “You have to be selective.”
Local politicians who have been critical of the campus protests and have publicly voiced support for Israel acknowledged that charges in the dismissed cases would be difficult to prove. In a radio interview Friday, Mayor Adams, a Democrat, said he respected the district attorney's decision. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a fellow Democrat and the longest-serving Jewish member of the House of Representatives, said he had “full confidence in District Attorney Bragg.”
“The reality is that many cases related to the Columbia protests are difficult to prosecute due to a lack of evidence, and the vast majority are first-time offenders,” Nadler said in a statement. “I support his judgment in this matter.”
But dozens of student protesters who showed up to court on Thursday were not satisfied with Bragg's decision and demanded that all the cases be dropped. Some of the other students who were indicted said at a post-hearing press conference that they had received an offer from prosecutors to drop the cases if they were not rearrested within six months. Most students rejected the deal and argued that the cases should have been dropped entirely.
Julian Roberts Grumera Contributed report.