Northwestern Presses Charges Against Professors, Librarian, Student For April Gaza Protest

EVANSTON, IL — More than two months after protesting Northwestern University students and faculty faced off against officers from the school's private security force who sought to stop them from setting up tents on a lawn outside the university's Deering Library, university officials are pressing charges.

Northwestern's private police force has referred four charges to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office for prosecution, this month filing class A misdemeanor charges of "resisting/obstructing a peace officer" in connection with the on-campus Palestinian solidarity encampment erected for several days in April.

"While the University permits peaceful demonstrations, it does not permit activity that disrupts University operations, violates the law, or includes the intimidation or harassment of members of the community," school spokesperson Jon Yates told reporters.

The Northwestern chapter of Educators for Justice in Palestine, or EJP, issued a statement identifying the defendants as two professors, one librarian and a graduate worker.

University officials have faced criticism from conservative lawmakers and pro-Israel organizations after they negotiated an agreement with protest organizers to end to the encampment.

This protest was part of a nationwide wave of student activism that swept campuses in the the months leading up to graduation in response to the conduct of Israel's military in Gaza.

President Michael Schill was called to Capitol Hill before a House committee, after which its chair, U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina), declared he made statements that were "misleading at best and raised questions about the candor and veracity of his testimony."

Schill faced extensive questioning from Republican committee members focused on what action, if any, the university had taken against faculty members who participated in the protest.

The Chronicle of Higher Education identified the charged Northwestern staffers as Alithia Zamantakis, an assistant professor at Northwestern’s Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing; Steven Thrasher, an assistant professor of journalism and the Renberg chair of social justice in reporting; and Josh Honn, a librarian.

The identity of the charged graduate student could not be determined. Under Illinois law, university and railroad police are exempt from the same transparency and public records laws that all other law enforcement agencies are required to follow.

The Cook County State's Attorney's office has not commented on the charges, and Northwestern officials are permitted to file misdemeanor charges without getting the approval of prosecutors first.

Honn said he was knocked down by Northwestern security forces during the April 25 confrontation, telling WBEZ he hopes prosecutors drop the charges.

“I wanted to go out and support the students, defend their rights, support them, exercise my academic freedom and, most importantly, to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” Honn said. “I don’t think we did anything wrong.”

Zamantakis believes the charges were a result of the criticism administrators faced over their deal with protestors, she told the Chronicle.

“In my eyes, this is Northwestern attempting to show that they did something about antisemitism," Zamantakis said, "which, in reality, is false, because standing with Palestine is not antisemitic."

Thrasher, an outspoken journalism professor, has not publicly commented on the charges but addressed demonstrators at the encampment and documented his participation in the human chain the blocked security forces.

"To the Medill students and journalists within earshot, I say to you: Our work is not about objectivity," Thrasher told students, according to the Daily Northwestern. "Our work is about you putting your brilliant minds to work and opening your compassionate hearts."

In its statement, the local chapter of EJP, noted that every university in Gaza has been destroyed and that zero Palestinians graduated this year, while students are routinely detained and banned from political assembly in the West Bank.

"We ask the Northwestern community and the people of Evanston and Chicago to join us in demanding these charges be dropped, in support of academic freedom and the legal right to peacefully assemble and protest," it said.

"These charges are not only a disgraceful distraction from the University's complicity in genocide, they are also a clear attempt to intimidate the urgent student activist movement on campus in support of the Palestinian people."

UPDATE: Prosecutors Drop Charges Northwestern Filed Against Own Staff, Student

Earlier:

• Graduating Northwestern Students Walk Out Of Commencement In Protest
• Northwestern Threatened With Subpoena Over 'Obstruction' Of Congressional Committee
• Schill On The Hill: Northwestern President Faces Questioning From Congress
• Northwestern President Faces Resignation Calls, Class Action Lawsuit From Jewish Students
• Pro-Palestinian Protesters Claim 'Historic' Victory In Deal To End Encampment