Anti-Israel activists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill facing charges over disruptive conduct at a protest have been offered plea deals.
The 38 protesters involved in the case are facing misdemeanor charges, including trespassing and physically attacking a government official. All 38 now have the option to accept plea deals.
The protesters claim they are using a “collective defense strategy” to help those of the demonstrators who are facing more severe charges: “Collective defense entails that we reject the state’s ideas of fairness and justice, because we know what is right. We know what is just, and there is no justice here,” one of the anti-Israel activists said.
Some of the demonstrators claim they want all charges against them dropped.
One protestor told WRAL News: “As we fight for our charges to be dropped, we remain focused on the goal of Palestinian liberation, and we hope to leverage our current situation to galvanize further support for our movement, showing the administration that their oppression will backfire.”
“We demand nothing less, but rather much, much more than for all our charges to be dropped unconditionally,” another protestor said Tuesday.
A statement on