In June 2024, twelve Stanford University students occupied the Stanford president’s office, demanding the school divest from Israel amidst the genocide in Palestine. Five of those twelve students were criminally charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass – disproportionately punitive charges when compared to the actual alleged cost of damages. The first trial was declared a mistrial due to the jury not reaching a unanimous verdict. During this trial, the legitimacy of the case was also brought into question due to the District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s relationship to the state of Israel.
Concerns about the case’s legitimacy were not unfounded, as earlier this month, Santa Clara County Superior Court judge, Kelley Paul, recused DA Rosen from the case after a complaint was filed about alleged conflicts of interest. Evidence from the complaint cited a link to a webpage Rosen sent out via email to a closed list of subscribers, inviting them to a campaign event in Los Angeles, as well as asking for donations to his June 2 re-election bid. The campaign page focused on “fighting antisemitism” and highlighted the prosecution of the Stanford students as proof of his commitment toward “America, the State of Israel, the Jewish People, and Judaism.” Along with this email, Rosen has also had a history of using his position to advocate for pro-Israel policies and groups. The case is now up to the California Attorney General to decide on whether to continue with the prosecution or drop the case. For now, the case has been postponed until July for the AG’s office to evaluate whether to retry the case after the first mistrial.
The fight is not over for these student activists so long as the case is in the Attorney General’s hands, as the AG office represented the Santa Clara DA in arguing against the recusal. These are some of the most severe charges brought against nonviolent protesters in an attempt to quell student activists while simultaneously revealing the ways our legal system can also be complicit in furthering the interests of pro-Israel lobbies.
