Alvin Bragg, Manhattan’s District Attorney, refused to confirm on Wednesday whether he would prosecute pro-Palestinian protesters who broke in and took over Hamilton Hall of Columbia University.
Bragg is prosecuting Donald Trump over an alleged violation of campaign finance laws that would normally be a misdemeanor and result in a fine if it were a felony. The statute of limitations for the alleged crime had also expired, so the misdemeanor charge became a felony. Nondisclosure agreements, on top of all that, are not illegal.
Bragg, who was overzealous in his pursuit of Trump, did not respond to questions from the Daily Caller about possible charges against pro-Palestinian protesters arrested on February 2. On Tuesday night, the New York Police Department arrested 119 rioters on Columbia University’s campus, and 173 students at a City University of New York protest.
William Jacobson, professor at Cornell Law School, told The Daily Caller that given his past and the political nature of the event, I’d be surprised if the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office pursued the charges seriously. The charges will likely be dropped for most of the perpetrators and reduced dramatically for others as part of an agreement that would eventually see them expunged.
Jacobson said, “Unfortunately, in New York City this weak prosecution agenda encourages even more crime.”
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Manhattan attorney Martin R. Stolar said protestors would not likely face jail time.
Kaz Daughtry, NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner, said at a press briefing on Tuesday that possible charges for the students in Hamilton Hall could include “burglary of the third degree” “criminal mischief” and “trespassing”. For those outside, “trespassing, disorderly conduct, and trespassing”, would be appropriate. It is up to the district attorneys to decide whether to file charges.
Police said that many individuals were not students at Columbia, but “outside activists”.
The building was taken over by protestors around 12:25 am on Tuesday. A video shows a protestor smashing a glass window with a heavy hammer. According to The Columbia Spectator, a facility worker claimed that the protestors were holding him “hostage”.
The encampment was set up by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University over a week before. On Monday, the university issued a warning that students would be suspended for failing to remove the encampment. On university campuses across the country, similar protests were started, including those at the University of Southern California which canceled its main graduation ceremony.
Stolar says that the rioters may face charges from disorderly conduct up to criminal mischief in the second degree. Stolar said that the rioters could face charges ranging from disorderly conduct to second-degree criminal mischief. He told the New York Times, however, that such charges were unlikely.
Mr. Stolar warned that protesters could be subject to more severe consequences if it is proven that they brought weapons or explosive devices into the building or committed violent assaults. These are Class B felonies, which carry a sentence of five to 25 years behind bars.
Stolar said that such outcomes are unlikely. Columbia students have protested peacefully, and many have never been in trouble before. Mr. Stolar noted that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and university administrators have had decades of experience in dealing with these demonstrations. This includes the 1968 Columbia protests when students occupied the same building. Mr. Stolar noted that most of the students were not charged criminally.
Stolar stated that the current protesters in Hamilton Hall are likely to receive an “adjournment contemplating dismissal” or A.C.D. This is a form of deferred prosecutor in which the case will be adjourned by six months. The case will be dismissed automatically if the prosecutor doesn’t move to trial the case during that time.
What kind of justice is this when peaceful pro-life demonstrators outside an abortion clinic were prosecuted in Tennessee by the Biden Administration? The rioters were found guilty and could face up to eleven years in prison.
