The Michigan District of the Communist Party USA rejects the bogus felony charges against 7 of the University of Michigan anti-genocide protestors. The felony charges against the 7 include resisting or obstructing arrest. Two other protesters were charged with trespassing, a misdemeanor.

We urge everyone to call Attorney General Dana Nessel at 517-335-7622 or email them at miag@michigan.gov to demand that these charges be dropped.

On September 11, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office brought charges against the protestors, bypassing the Washtenaw County prosecutor, who did not bring charges.

The brave protesting workers were involved in the campus encampment movement, which had a global reach and included students, university workers, and alumni from different universities around the world. They were protesting the university’s investment in Israeli bonds, corporations, and weapons manufacturers contributing to the genocide against the Palestinian people.

On the early morning of May 21, at 5:30 AM, police ambushed students shortly after issuing a dispersal order giving demonstrators only 10 minutes to vacate the area. While most students were peacefully sleeping, the police moved in and violently suppressed the student encampment using excessive force. Clad in riot gear, police officers drove protesters away from the encampment using batons and pepper spray, eventually throwing tents, supplies, and students’ belongings into trash containers.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in the U.S. Congress, said that the “Attorney General failed to deliver justice for the victims of the Flint Water Crisis but has time to bring frivolous charges that only serve to silence those speaking out against a genocidal apartheid regime? This shameful attack on students’ rights will fail. Follow the Constitution.”

The Michigan District of the Communist Party USA stands in solidarity with the student protestors. We call on Attorney General Dana Nessel to immediately drop all charges against the protestors. We view this as an outrageous breach of our Constitution, including the rights to free speech and assembly. This action is part of the capitalist class’s general drive towards anti-democratic, reactionary policies that seek to demoralize and criminalize democratic peoples’ movements against fascism and war.

The Michigan District of the Communist Party USA supports the people’s movement against the U.S. funded and armed Palestinian genocide, and the democratic right of the people to fight against the policies of the ruling class, including before the boards of our public universities. We stand steadfast with the people’s front opposing the threat of fascism and war.

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