Twelve students who participated in a violent antisemitic protest at Stanford University in 2024 have been charged with felonies, according to a Thursday announcement.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced that the protesters were charged for “breaking into a Stanford University campus building last year, barricading themselves inside, and vandalizing administrative offices.” Many protesters across the nation continue to face penalties for the violent and destructive anti-Israel demonstrations that swept college campuses since the start of Hamas’ war on Israel, as investigations have revealed administrators allowed and at times supported pro-Hamas events.
“Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal,” Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the press release. “There is a bright line between making a point and committing a crime. These defendants crossed the line into criminality when they broke into those offices, barricaded themselves inside, and started a calculated plan of destruction.”
Almost all of the demonstrators were former or current Stanford University students between the ages of 19 and 32, the attorney said. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage was reported as the protesters “broke windows and furniture, splashed fake blood, and disabled security cameras.”
The perpetrators face prison time for felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass, the DA stated.
Pro-Palestine demonstrators rally at an encampment in support of Gaza at the University of Southern California on April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
“As we’ve maintained consistently, we believe the decision on how to proceed with these cases rests with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office based on the evidence gathered,” a Stanford spokesman told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We respect their decision in this matter.”
The university representative also told the DCNF that several students were found “responsible for violations of university policies” and were “issued sanctions, including two-quarter suspensions followed by probation, delayed degree conferrals, and community service hours.”
The Trump administration has taken a strong stance against antisemitic violence on campus, assembling the Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, made up of the Department of Education (ED), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in February. The task force opened investigations into over 60 universities by March, warning schools of “potential enforcement actions” if they did not step up to protect Jewish students from harassment and discrimination. Several universities are facing harsh penalties for failing to address campus incidents, losing federal funding to the tune of billions. (RELATED: Higher Ed Group Urges Schools To Resist Trump Admin’s Efforts To Deport Foreign Protesters)
The Trump administration has also cracked down on foreign students in the U.S. who it says expressed support for terrorism, revoking the visas of over 300 students and deporting several.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Stanford University.
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