(Headline USA) Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg dropped all charges this week against dozens of pro-Hamas protesters who broke into and occupied buildings on Columbia University’s campus.
Judge Kevin McGrath announced Bragg’s decision on Thursday, revealing that the cases against 30 Columbia students and staff members will no longer be prosecuted by the city.
“All these matters are dismissed and sealed in the interest of justice,” McGrath said in the courtroom.
Most of those arrested at Columbia were initially charged with trespass in the third degree, a misdemeanor. Some also faced charges for violent behavior, such as arson.
Stephen Millan, a prosecutor in Bragg’s office, claimed there was insufficient evidence to show that the protesters damaged property or injured anyone due to the fact that many of the protesters wore masks and covered surveillance cameras.
“It would be extremely difficult for the people to prove any charge of misconduct,” Millan told the judge.
Moreover, none of the students arrested by the New York Police Department during the protests had prior criminal histories, and all are facing disciplinary proceedings at Columbia, Millan said.
Bragg’s office said in a statement that it was still pursuing some cases from the illegal Columbia riot, “including all assaults against police officers.”
There are 13 defendants involved in the protests still facing charges, 11 of whom have no affiliation with the school.
However, Bragg tried to drop the charges against them as well, offering them a deal to drop their cases if they avoided being arrested over the next six months. They reportedly declined the offer.
Members of New York’s Jewish community blasted Bragg’s decision, arguing it will encourage further crime and anti-Semitism.
“This is turnstile justice,” Michael Nussbaum, a member of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, told the New York Post. “This a green light for chaos, a green light for destroying property.”
