Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, “stunned” defense attorneys for anti-Israel University of Michigan students when she dropped all the charges against the seven protesters for trespassing and for resisting and obstructing police at an encampment last year, the Detroit Free Press reported on Monday.
“Inside the courthouse, the decision to drop the charges stunned defense lawyers, who were prepared to offer closing arguments in a preliminary exam that began in February,” the paper reported.
One factor in Nessel’s decision was a letter from the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor submitted to the court on May 2. It responded to recent accusations against Nessel of “what critics describe as bias in the case,” the paper reported.
“The notion that Attorney General Nessel is biased against Muslims and Americans of Arab descent is unfounded and deeply offensive,’ the letter stated, adding that she “has a strong history of uplifting those in both the Muslim and Arab American communities.”
Despite its defense of her standing, Nessel called the letter inappropriate, according to the paper, which asked her office to explain, “but didn’t receive an immediate response.”
“We have learned that a public statement in support of my office from a local nonprofit has been directly communicated to the court,” the state attorney general said. “The impropriety of this action has led us to the difficult decision to drop these charges.”
The Free Press reported that when the decision was announced in court, spectators who “packed” the room, many clad in keffiyehs, “burst into applause” and chanted “free Palestine.”
Several University of Michigan police officers told the court that protesters ignored their commands to move back and threw tables and chairs in their path, per the paper.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who has a long history of anti-Israel comments, stated that the decision was “good news for our university student communities.”
“Our First Amendment rights should never be criminalized,” she wrote. “Speaking up against genocide should be lifted up, not slammed with felony charges. Palestinians deserve safety and dignity.”
“Classic. And very bad,” stated Tal Fortgang, a legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “A reminder that it takes a lot to deter civil terrorism.”