Manhattan DA Drops Charges For More Than Half Of Columbia University Protestors

The Manhattan district attorney dropped the charges for more than half of the Columbia University protesters who were arrested in April during a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus.

Hundreds of students seized Hamilton Hall, a building on Columbia’s campus in Manhattan, on April 30 amid a nationwide mobilization of protests on college campuses to protest Israel’s attacks on Palestinians and called on their institutions to divest from Israel .

The protests revolve around Israel’s ongoing offensive against the militant group Hamas in Gaza, after it had launched a deadly surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7. Since then, Israel’s ongoing strikes have killed over 30,000 people in Gaza and displaced most of the population.

On Thursday, Manhattan district attorney’s office, dismissed the charges against 31 out of 46 protestors who were arrested on April 30 at the college’s pro-Palestine demonstrations due to lack of evidence, among other reasons. Those who were students or employed at Columbia are facing ongoing disciplinary hearings.

All the individuals whose cases were dismissed were students or staff at Columbia, Barnard or Union Theological Seminary , the DA office told HuffPost.

James Carlson, another defendant who is unaffiliated with Columbia University, faces charges for trespassing and burning an Israeli flag. According to NBC News , he has two open cases against him involving separate charges.

Some individuals — two students and 12 individuals who were not staff or students at Columbia — were offered a proposal to have their charges dropped as long as they aren’t arrested within the next six months, NBC News reported. Prosecutors said that the individuals’ nonexistent criminal history and the limited video