DA may drop charges against UC protesters

[ The following news article is presented as it appears in the Berkely Daily Planet in its entirety for educational viewing purposes only. See an OSA commentary after. ]

Friday, June 7, 2002

DA may drop charges against UC protesters

By Daviod Scharfenberg Daily Planet staff (06-04-02)

The Alameda County District Attorney has offered to drop charges against the 78 pro-Palestinian activists who occupied UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Hall April 9, the Planet has learned.

“I think it’s a real vindication,” said Linda Sherif, a member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and lawyer for the protesters. “It was a peaceful political demonstration and charges shouldn’t have been filed in the first place.”

“It just seemed fair given what was involved and their records and the message they were trying to send,” said, Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Stuart Hing, about the offer.

The defendants could accept the offer as early as Friday, during a court appearance at the Oakland branch of the Alameda County Superior Court.

All 78 defendants currently face charges of obstructing or intimidating an employee of a public agency.

Seven defendants also face charges of resisting arrest and 23 year-old student Roberto Hernandez is accused of misdemeanor assault and battery for allegedly biting a UC Berkeley police officer.

The District Attorney has offered to drop all charges and issue an official “factual finding of innocence” for each defendant, requiring that all arrest records are sealed.

“I’m pleased with the offer that’s been made,” said defendants’ attorney Seth Chazin.

Chazin said lawyers have not yet contacted all the activists to confirm their acceptance of the District Attorney’s offer. But Hoang Phan, a leader of Students for Justice in Palestine, the campus group that spearheaded the April 9 takeover, said the defendants will likely agree to the proposal.

If they accept the offer, most defendants will have to pay court fees of $25 or $50, with Hernandez shelling out $750. Chazin said the fees are simply administrative payments. But Hing said the fees qualify as fines.

Activists took over Wheeler Hall April 9 after a full day of protest, calling on the University of California to divest from Israel. Protesters chanted slogans for hours before UC Berkeley police ordered them to leave. When the activists refused to disperse, campus police arrested them one-by-one, dragging some of them away.

After arraignment at the Berkeley branch of the Superior Court April 30, Judge Carol Brosnahan transferred the case to Oakland. The District Attorney’s Oakland office offered to drop the charges after a May 29 court date, according to Sherif.

“It’s a really big legal victory,” said Phan, the SJP leader. “It’s also a really big political victory.”

But Phan noted that the 41 students involved in the occupation still face possible disciplinary action, including suspension, from the university.

“We’ve won the criminal charges, but the student conduct charges we take very seriously,” he said, noting that SJP will fight any disciplinary action.

UC Berkeley spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said the university will send letters to the students this week notifying them of the charges they will face. She said it will then be up to the students to settle the matter in an informal meeting with staff or go to a hearing.

Gilmore declined to comment on the offer to drop criminal charges until receiving direct confirmation of that offer from the District Attorney.

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who has been a vocal critic of the university and supporter of the students, said he was not surprised by the District Attorney’s offer.

“I’ve been expecting it, because when you look at the police report, it is virtually unimaginable that they could be convicted,” said Worthington. “Any fair-minded District Attorney would probably come to the conclusion it’s not worth the enormous expense and staff time (to prosecute).”

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[ OSA Commentary:

Court Hypocrisy: Pro-life sit downs jail; Arab sit-downs OK

The double standard toward Christians continues to be applied in the courts and celebrated in the mainstream media when it comes to public demonstrations. The axiom we sang at numerous rescues, "Be a hero save a whale, Save a baby go to jail" is now a cardinal doctrine in the courts. Today's media reports peaceful pro-life gatherings of Christians to pray, worship and share Christ as "violent demonstrations" by "fundamentalist extremists" when no law has been broken. Now when Islamic students take over a state university campus building in political dissent, we see the demonstrators go free by civil authorities even when law enforcement officers were injured. The hypocrisy grows as the media reports any demonstrations not invoking the name of Jesus, denouncing the killing of baby boys and girls by abortion or other sinful practice as a peaceful demonstration.

Using the hypocrisy of today's courts and media, there would be no Civil Rights Act in place to enforce laws against racial discrimination. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of other Christians would have soon faced federal racketeering lawsuits and extended federal prison terms. The evil of racism would receive the blessing of the mainstream media if they were morally consistent with their treatment of Christians who by definition are pro-life.

In the San Francisco Bay area, Islamic students and residents are harassing Christians sharing their faith on public sidewalks and the UC campus. Where is the news coverage of the Islamic persecution of Christians in America already taking place?

The historic use of peaceful protest including direct action is practiced by leftist groups in America today while Christians are hammered when they do so. This must be called by its name. It is hypocrisy. America is allegedly involved in a war against terrorism since the attacks of last September 11. Billions of dollars and American lives are being sacrificed to fight this war. Meanwhile the FBI and state law enforcement expends millions of dollars trying to extinguish the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the streets of America. NARAL, NOW, Planned Parenthood and their blood-money bought politicians in both major political parties want this amount of money increased greatly. Furthermore, they want even more draconian laws passed not only to silence the Christians on sidewalks outside abortion clinics, but inside pregnancy counseling centers where thousands of women are helped free of charge. They won't stop there if they succeed. The pulpits of the churches (most of which are doing nothing to end the killing under the deceitful guise of "not being controversial") are their next target.

The silence by the Church in the face of open hypocrisy by courts and prosecutors must stop or this rank hypocrisy will continue to grow worse. Christians must stand now. As the Scriptures teach us, "If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!" Proverbs 24:10

Persecution is knocking at the door. Today (June 10) Christian missionary Gracia Burham is returning to Rose Hill, KS after over a year in captivity at the hands of Islamic terrorists in the Philippines. Her husband Martin died in the rescue attempt by the Philippine military as he placed his body on top of his wife's to take the bullets meant for her. This martyr passed from this life into the arms of Jesus exactly as he had lived here: laying down his life for others. Martin now wears a victor's crown rejoicing in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ forever with millions of other saints who have gone before.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

Steve Mashburn ]