In a major reversal, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office moved to dismiss felony charges against seven pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan Monday.
They were arrested nearly a year ago following a police raid on a tent encampment at U of M and charged with resisting arrest.
Instead of making a decision on the recusal motion, Ann Arbor District Court Judge Cedric Simpson accepted the prosecutor’s motion to dismiss all charges.
Defense attorneys sought to have the Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recused from the case, arguing that she had became too personally connected to the case when she decried a common — though controversial — Pro-Palestinian slogan as antisemitic.
They also pointed to her mention of the protesters' case in a request for a recusal in a different case, writing, "Critics have alleged, albeit without justification, that these prosecutions were brought due to bias against Muslims and/or people of Arab descent." Defense attorneys said that perception of bias meant she could not be a neutral arbiter of the law.
In a statement, Attorney General Nessel called those allegations “baseless and absurd” and said that the motion for a recusal has been “a diversionary tactic which has only served to further delay the proceedings.”
“While I stand by my charging decisions, and believe, based on the evidence, a reasonable jury would find the defendants guilty of the crimes alleged,” she said, “I no longer believe these cases to be a prudent use of my department’s resources, and, as such, I have decided to dismiss the cases.”She also pointed to a letter sent directly to Judge Simpson by the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor as the reason why she decided to drop the charges. “The impropriety of this action has led us to the difficult decision to drop these charges.”
Observers erupted into cheers when Judge Simpson granted the attorney general’s motion to dismiss the cases.
The dozens who filled the observation area of the courtroom burst into applause, as defendants embraced one another, their lawyers, and their families.
“This case was not about trespassing,” Amir Makled, one of the defense attorneys, said with supporters gathered around him. “This was not about felony conduct. This was about the criminalization of free speech. And today, the state of Michigan agrees that you still have the right to speak up.”
Sammie Lewis, one of the defendants, made a similar remark to supporters outside of the courthouse. “Today is a huge win for not just us, but the entire movement for Palestine.” She said the case had “changed a lot of our relationships, our everyday life. It's really uprooted our lives. And I think I can speak for all of us when I say we're really happy to get back to what we had and happy to continue the fight.”
Lewis and another protester face additional charges of trespassing and resisting arrest in a case related to their alleged actions at “Festifall,” an event for incoming freshmen at the U of M. A hearing in that case is scheduled for next month.
The attorney general is still involved in cases against two additional people charged only with trespassing during the police action to clear the encampment.
Nessel is also charging two others who were counterprotesting the encampment. One faces charges of disturbing the peace and attempted ethnic intimidation, while another is charged with two counts of malicious destruction of personal property for allegedly taking multiple flags from protesters at the pro-Palestine encampment and destroying them.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Lindsey Smith contributed to this story.
