Many face misdemeanors after UNC pro-Palestinian protests; attorneys want charges dismissed

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Dozens of protesters are facing misdemeanors for their involvement in the Pro-Palestine protests at UNC.

A few months ago, hundreds gathered for these protests in support of Palestine, urging the university to sever financial ties with Israel.

"We demand nothing less, but rather much, much more than for all our charges to be dropped unconditionally," a speaker said on Tuesday in front of the Chapel Hill Courthouse.

38 people were given various plea deals that ranged based on what they were charged with, including resisting, obstructing and delaying law enforcement, and trespassing.

According to the attorney for those charged, if anyone took the plea, it's unlikely they would serve jail time.

"We push for all our charges to be dropped, not only to avoid giving money to the state in the forms of fines and fees, to avoid doing unpaid labor at the behest of the state in the form of community service, and to avoid the worst-case scenario of incarceration."

Reading four points of unity aloud, speakers said a "collective defense is the best way to get there," as the next court date approaches on August 26.

Serious Charges

Back in May, court records uncovered by ABC11 I-Team revealed the names of six people -- including three UNC students -- facing the most serious charges.

Emi Abe-teh, Stephen Sandor, Gurnoor Majhail, and Tashia Ethridge were arrested and charged with resisting, obstructing and delaying law enforcement and trespassing. Jackson Prause and Owen Stone face those same charges in addition to assaulting a law enforcement officer.

The six had their first court date on May 30.

Their attorneys -- Pooyan Ordoubadi of Lopez-Cobb and Ordoubadi, PLLC; and Jaelyn D. Miller of Emancipate NC -- said they want all these charges dropped, calling it a 'violation of their First Amendment at the hands of the police and university leaders'.

On behalf of the six students, a statement released Thursday said in part:

"Our work must always center Palestine, never allowing the repression of our movement on Turtle Island to overshadow the devastation and genocide being committed by the Israeli apartheid state nor overshadow the liberation work happening in Palestine right now and since 1948.

Putting pressure on the District Attorney and court to drop our charges is not the only reason we encouraged people to show up here. We also wanted to take advantage of our court appearances to give food to anyone who needs it; build solidarity and trust; provide space to hear community grievances, knowledge, skills, resources, needs, and visions for the future; and make plans for actions that we can take to bring those visions into reality...

We call out UNC-Chapel Hill for its oppressive and hypocritical call for police to brutalize their students and community and denounce their empty lip service in support of past student movements...We will keep fighting for UNC-Chapel Hill and other universities to end study-abroad programs in the apartheid state of so-called Israel. We will keep fighting for them to stop buying and selling products manufactured by companies complicit in genocide. We will keep fighting for them to disclose, and we will keep fighting for them to divest!"