Charges filed against UC Irvine students and professors who took part in protests

The Orange County District Attorney’s office announced misdemeanor charges Wednesday against 10 people, including a professor and lecturer. They have been charged with failing to follow dispersal orders at UC Irvine when police attempted to clear a student encampment calling for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza.

About the charges

Two of those charged are listed as staff members by UC Irvine. Four of the 10 are UC Irvine students. Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, a professor of global and international studies, is charged with three misdemeanor counts including resisting arrest. Jonathan Brook Haley, a lecturer from the School of Humanities, is charged with failure to disperse.

Willoughy-Herard could not immediately be reached for comment. LAist is also reaching out to Haley and UC Irvine officials.

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said that the Special Prosecutions Unit spent months reviewing evidence before moving forward with charges.

“The right to peaceful assembly is a constitutional right and we encourage protestors to exercise their right to peaceful assembly on any issue,” Spitzer said when he announced the charges. “However, criminal activity which transcends peaceful assembly will not be tolerated."

How we got here

More than 45 people were arrested in May when law enforcement were called in to break up a student encampment. The students were protesting Israel’s war in Gaza, calling on the university to sever ties with weapons manufacturers, asking the university to invest in a Palestine Studies program and create financial subsidies for Palestinian students.

On Wednesday, May 15, the student encampment at UC Irvine expanded as protestors observed the Nakba, an annual commemoration of when Palestinians were displaced in the creation of the state of Israel. Student protestors entered a lecture hall and barricaded a building.

The university said law enforcement were called when the encampment expanded.