American prosecutors have announced felony charges against a dozen current and former students at Stanford University over their alleged involvement in the takeover of a campus building last year.
The twelve people have been charged with felony vandalism and conspiracy to trespass, according to a news release by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday, which was carried by the AP news agency.
Those charged will be arraigned later this month, said the report citing the DA’s office.
The Stanford University, like many other campuses across the United States, was in 2024 the scene of pro-Palestine protests amid Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip. The protesting students demanded their universities divest from Israel.
The takeover at the Stanford University, in California, took place on June 5 when some students barricaded themselves inside an administrative building that houses the university president’s office.
Prosecutors accuse the charged students of planning the takeover, and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the building during the three-hour takeover. They accuse the students of breaking windows and furniture, disabling a camera and splashing fake blood, according to ABC News.
The media outlet, citing Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen, said that all the charged students are U.S. citizens. If convicted, the maximum punishment would be more than three years in prison, it added.
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