California AG Rob Bonta drops felony charges against pro-Palestinian Stanford protesters

Five pro-Palestine Stanford University protesters will no longer face felony charges under a pretrial diversion agreement reached Monday with California Attorney General Rob Bonta.Instead, the students will pay Stanford $51,973, a far lower amount than the initially estimated $360,000 to $1 million in damages, and will each complete 100 hours of community service.The case dates back to 2024, when pro-Palestine protests rocked college campuses nationwide as Israel escalated its campaign against Gaza after Hamas terrorists launched an attack on Israel in October 2023.At Stanford University, the protests culminated in a break-in at the university president’s office by eight undergraduates, three Stanford graduates and an outsider on the last day of classes.Students and activists wanted to pressure the university to divest its endowment funds from companies tied to the Israeli government.Last year, the twelve people were charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass.

Prosecutors accused the demonstrators of spray-painting on the building, breaking windows and furniture, disabling security cameras and splattering a red liquid described as fake blood on items throughout the building.They used furniture to barricade themselves in, prosecutors said.Three of the defendants settled their cases before trial and four entered into diversion programs.The last five defendants faced up to three years in prison, but a trial ended in a mistrial after the jury could not agree to convict.Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen had wanted to retry the case, but a judge instead handed the case to Bonta after concerns were raised that Rosen was fundraising off the matter.The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area and Jewish Silicon Valley said in a joint statement that the plea deal “sends the troubling message that politically motivated destruction of property carries minimal legal consequences.”They also noted that the announcement came on Y...