A trial began Friday for five current and former Stanford University students accused in a 2024 pro-Palestinian protest of occupying the university president’s offices, a rare instance of demonstrators facing trial for actions from the wave of campus protests that year.
Authorities initially arrested and charged 12 people after demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the president and provost’s offices for several hours on June 5, 2024, the last day of spring classes at the university in California’s Silicon Valley.
Prosecutors said the demonstrators spray-painted on the building, broke windows and furniture, disabled security cameras, and splattered red liquid described as fake blood on items throughout the offices. The university is seeking $329,000 in restitution.
The case later included felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass charges. Prosecutors said a grand jury indictment followed in October against 11 others, after which six accepted pretrial plea deals or diversion programs, while the five on trial pleaded not guilty.
One defendant, a 21-year-old man, pleaded no contest under an agreement that allows eligible youth to have their cases dismissed and records sealed if they successfully complete probation, and the man testified for the prosecution that led to the grand jury indictment.
Avi Singh, an attorney representing Stanford student Germán González, said González decided to exercise his right to a jury trial.
“Germán González and the other four defendants are exercising their constitutional right to have a jury trial, and demand the district attorney prove everything that is required for a conviction,” including whether they planned to trespass and what their intent was, Singh said.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said last year when announcing his decision to charge the group that the protesters went too far when they damaged the building.
“Speech is protected by the First Amendment. Vandalism is prosecuted under the penal code,” Rosen said.
The protests that year spread across U.S. university campuses as students staged demonstrations and camps, demanding their universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its war efforts against Gaza. Across the country, about 3,200 people were arrested in 2024, and many cases ended with dismissal—either after some colleges struck deals with students, waited them out, or called police when protesters refused to leave. Most charges, according to the report, were dismissed.