Will Protesters Occupying Columbia’s Hamilton Hall Face Charges?
Student protesters at Columbia University who took over a building on campus Tuesday morning could face a variety of felony or misdemeanor charges, but probably will not be found guilty of criminal charges, said Martin R. Stolar, a Manhattan lawyer and former president of the New York City chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, with more than 50 years of experience defending protesters.
“We’re not talking about jail time here,” said Mr. Stolar, 81. He is not representing any of the demonstrators arrested in recent pro-Palestinian protests in New York, he said, but is advising a number of younger lawyers who are.
Protesters broke into Hamilton Hall early Tuesday, hours after university administrators said they had begun suspending students who refused to leave a tent encampment on campus. Videos show a person breaking windows in a door to gain access to the building. Other photos taken inside and posted on social media show protesters using chairs and desks to barricade the doors.
Columbia announced later Tuesday that the students occupying the building faced expulsion.
A spokeswoman for Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. At a news conference on Tuesday morning, Jeffrey Maddrey, the Police Department’s chief of department, said officers would not go onto Columbia’s campus unless the university’s administrators requested it, or if police had reason to suspect someone on campus was hurt or in “imminent danger,” Chief Maddrey said.
The charges that protesters face, Mr. Stolar said, could range from disorderly conduct, a violation that can be resolved with a fine and does not involve criminal charges, to second-degree criminal mischief, a Class D felony involving more than $1,500 in property damage. Such a charge carries a maximum jail sentence of up to seven years, according to New York State penal law.