Islamic Republic Foreign Affairs Ministry Bans Former UFPD Chief Stump-Kurnick From Iran
Update: In August 2024 Abbas Araghchi was appointed the Islamic Republic Foreign Minister
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic has placed sanctions on former University of Florida (UF) Police Department (UFPD) Chief Linda J. Stump-Kurnick, along with ten other United States police and public safety officials, for their responses to pro-Palestine protest encampments around the U.S.
According to the statement, the Iran 11 has been “subject to the ban on issuing visas and the impossibility of entering the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the blocking of bank accounts in the financial and banking system, and the confiscation of property and assets in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic.”
Stump-Kurnick was the chief of UFPD when the arrests occurred; however, former Deputy Chief Bart Knowles was the primary authority who oversaw the arrest of the UF 9.
Additionally, Knowles is now serving as the interim chief of UFPD due to Stump-Kurnick stepping down last month, reports the Alligator.
UFPD was not the only police department that responded to the protest on April 29. Under the direct order of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, i.e., State Troopers, aided UFPD in the arrest of the nine protesters.
The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) lined up with UFPD in front of a nearby student building where the defendants had been taken inside. GPD Interim Chief Nelson Moya didn’t appear to be at the scene of the arrests and didn’t issue any statements regarding it.
All the protesters face misdemeanor charges, the likes of trespassing, resisting an officer without violence, and wearing a face mask on public property, except for one who is facing a felony battery charge for allegedly spitting on a police officer. UFPD Operations Major Kristy Sasser wrote in the arrest form that “spittle landed on [her] right arm.”
The incident arose after three protesters decided to sit in chairs and play a game of Uno. Chairs were regarded as among the “prohibited items” list issued by student life.
All the protesters are fighting the criminal prosecution by the Florida State, with arrestee Parker Hovis stating in a press release “We're standing in solidarity with each other, and collectively demanding that the state drop the charges against us….We will not sit idly by while our rights to peaceful expression, speech, and assembly are criminalized."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic’s full statement is translated as follows:
The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic #ایران regarding the imposition of sanctions against some American persons involved in the gross violation of human rights through the suppression of the student protest movement #فلسطین
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in line with the implementation of the law "Combating Human Rights Violations and Adventurous and Terrorist Actions of the United States of America in the Region", and especially based on Article 5 of the above-mentioned law, the following American persons for violating human rights through repression The peaceful protests of university students and professors in the United States in support of the oppressed Palestinian nation against the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza are sanctioned:
1. William (Billy) Hitchens, Director of the Georgia Department of Public Safety
2. Eddie Greer, Georgia State Field Operations Commander
3. University of Florida [former] Police Chief Linda J. Stump Cornick
4. Pamela Smith, Washington DC Police Chief
5. Jeffrey Carroll, Executive Assistant to the Washington DC Police Chief
6. New Haven Police Chief Carl Jacobsen
7. University of Texas Assistant Police Chief Shane Streepy
8. Boston Police Chief Michael Cox
9. Scott Dunning, Indiana University Central Police Department Chief
10. University of Arizona Police Chief Michael Thompson
11. John Brocki, University of California Long Beach police chief
According to articles 6, 7 and 8 of the sixth section of the aforementioned law, the aforementioned persons are subject to the ban on issuing visas and the impossibility of entering the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the blocking of bank accounts in the financial and banking system, and the confiscation of property and assets in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic.
All institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to the approvals of the relevant authorities, will take the necessary measures for the effective implementation of these sanctions.
بیانیه وزارت امور خارجه جمهوری اسلامی #ایران در خصوص اعمال تحریم علیه برخی اشخاص آمریکایی دخیل در نقض فاحش حقوق بشر از طریق سرکوب جنبش اعتراضی دانشجویی حامی #فلسطین (۱۳ تیرماه ۱۴۰۳)
وزارت امور خارجه جمهوري اسلامي ايران در راستای اجرای قانون «مقابله با نقض حقوق بشر و اقدامات ماجراجويانه و تروريستي ایالات متحده آمريكا در منطقه» و به ویژه به استناد ماده ۵ قانون فوق الذكر، اشخاص آمريكايي زیر را به دلیل نقض حقوق بشر از طریق سرکوب اعتراضات مسالمت آمیز دانشجویان و اساتید دانشگاهها در امریکا که در حمایت از ملت مظلوم فلسطین علیه جنایات رژیم صهیونیستی در غزه به پا خواسته اند، تحت تحریم قرار می دهد:
۱. ویلیام (بیلی) هیچنز، رئیس اداره امنیت عمومی جورجیا
۲. ادی گریر، فرمانده عملیات میدانی ایالت جورجیا
۳. لیندا جی استامپ کورنیک، رئیس پلیس دانشگاه فلوریدا
۴. پاملا اسمیت، فرمانده پلیس واشینگتن دی¬سی
۵. جفری کارول، دستیار اجرایی فرمانده پلیس واشینگتن دی¬سی
۶. کارل جاکوبسن، رئیس پلیس نیو هاون
۷. شین استریپی، دستیار رئیس پلیس دانشگاه تگزاس
۸. مایکل کاکس، رئیس پلیس بوستون
۹. اسکات دانینگ، رئیس بخش پلیس مرکزی دانشگاه ایندیانا
۱۰. مایکل تامپسون، رئیس پلیس دانشگاه آریزونا
۱۱. جان بروکی، رئیس پلیس دانشگاه لانگ بیچ کالیفرنیا
اشخاص فوق الذکر وفق مواد ۶، ۷ و ۸ از بخش ششم قانون یادشده مشمول ممنوعیت صدور روادید و عدم امکان ورود به قلمرو جمهوری اسلامی ایران، مسدود شدن حساب های بانکی در نظام مالی و بانکی و توقیف اموال و دارایی در قلمرو تحت صلاحیت جمهوری اسلامی ایران خواهند بود.
کلیه نهادهای جمهوری اسلامی ایران طبق مصوبات مراجع مربوطه، اقدامات لازم را جهت اجرای موثر این تحریم ها معمول خواهند داشت.
