Travis County attorney Delia Garza said her office determined it couldn’t meet the legal burden to prove the cases beyond a reasonable doubt.
Texas state troopers line up below the University of Texas at Austin Tower to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus, April 29, 2024, in Austin, Texas. Nearly 80 criminal trespass cases filed after the campus protest have been dismissed as a prosecutor said Wednesday, June 26, 2024 that the reaction to protests showed that elected leaders “continue to prioritize extreme government outreach over actual public safety.
Delia Garza, a Democrat who is the elected attorney for Travis County, said 79 criminal trespass cases that were dismissed all stemmed from the Garza said her office determined it couldn’t meet the legal burden to prove the cases beyond a reasonable doubt. She said factors that were considered included whether the protesters’ right to free speech had been violated, whether prosecutors had sufficient evidence to seek a conviction and if pursuing the case was in the interest of justice.
On April 29 at UT, officers in riot gear encircled about 100 sitting protesters, dragging or carrying them out one by one amid screams. Another group of demonstrators trapped police and a van full of arrestees between buildings, creating a mass of bodies pushing and shoving. Officers used pepper spray and flash-bang devices to clear the crowd.
Garza said she wished that state and university leadership had looked for “another solution to allow these students to voice what they felt like they needed to voice.” She said the reaction to the protests to protests showed that elected leaders “continue to prioritize extreme government outreach over actual public safety.
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