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Felony Charges Filed Against Pro-Hamas Protesters Over Stanford University Break-In
Students listen to a speech at a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at Stanford University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Stanford, California US, April 26, 2024. Photo: Carlos Barria via Reuters Connect.
Twelve Stanford University students have been charged with felony vandalism and conspiracy to trespass for their role in the takeover of an administrative building during the final days of the 2023-2024 academic year, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday.
“Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “There is a bright line between making a point and committing a crime. These defendants crossed the line into criminality when they broke into those offices, barricaded themselves inside, and started a calculated plan of destruction.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, on June 5, 2024, pro-Hamas activists associated with the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) raided then-president Richard Saller’s office, locking themselves inside using, the Stanford Daily reported at the time, “bike locks, chains, ladders, and chairs.” The incident was part of a larger pro-Hamas demonstration in which SJP demanded that the university adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as the first step to its eventual elimination.
Inside the building, the protesters proceeded to graffiti “kill cops” and “De@th 2 Is@hell” on school property.
“In addition to damage done inside the building, protesters committed extensive graffiti vandalism on the sandstone buildings and columns of the Main Quad this morning,” provost Jenny Martinez said following the incident. “This graffiti conveys vile and hateful sentiments that we condemn in the strongest terms. Whether the graffiti was created by members of the Stanford community or outsiders, we expect that the vast majority of our community joins us in rejecting this assault on our campus.”
The students — originally called the “Stanford Thirteen” to include the arrest of a Stanford Daily reporter who no longer faces criminal charges for being present during the alleged criminal conduct to cover it as a news story — face some of the toughest sanctions imposed on anti-Israel protesters who, beginning in April 2024, commandeered sections of their campuses across the US and refused to leave unless school administrators adopted the BDS movement. In addition to being criminally charged, eight of the 12 were suspended by the university for what was allegedly a premeditated operation.
“Multiple cell phones were recovered from the arrestees,” the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release. “A review of the cell phone data resulted in detailed communication about the planning and commission of the conspiracy, including encrypted text-messages and links to detailed operational plans. The communication indicated the suspects met on multiple occasions, days in advance, to conspire to take over the building.”
Santa Clara County added that a “DO-IT-YOURSELF OCCUPATION GUIDE [sic]” containing seditious material was retrieved from the students’ cellphones as well. The guide said: “Vandalism? Occupying a space removes the space from the capitalist landscape. A group may decide it is better to destroy or vandalize a space than return it to its usual role in good condition. The role of vandalism may be different in each situation, but it should not be disowned outright.”
Stanford University itself faces a federal investigation, as it is one of 60 colleges and universities identified by the Trump administration as an institution that responded inadequately to antisemitic incidents that occurred on the campus.
Prior to the 2024 protests it was the site of a slew of antisemitic incidents. A swastika was etched into a metal panel of a bathroom, a student’s mezuzah was desecrated, and weeks before, a Jewish student found an image of Adolf Hitler and swastikas on their door. In other incidents, someone graffitied swastikas, the n-word, and “KKK” in a mens bathroom and a Stanford University student was photographed reading Hitler’s memoir. Responding to concerns that antisemitic sentiment at the university had reached crisis levels, Stanford created an advisory to task force composed of faculty and staff who proposed measures for improving Jewish life on campus and reducing antisemitism.
US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s March announcement of the college investigations indicate that Trump administration officials do not feel the school has done enough to address the problem.
“The department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite US campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year,” McMahon said in a statement. “US colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by US taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Felony Charges Filed Against Pro-Hamas Protesters Over Stanford University Break-In first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.