Press Release: UF 9 Gives Update to Legal Battle
Updated July 10 | Mention of Pringle‘s suspension at Santa Fe College was removed due to reports of fabrications by WUFT.
Parker Hovis told WUFT “This is as much a shock to me as it is for Santa Fe, if not more so,” Hovis said. “This is someone I trusted, stood shoulder to shoulder with, and thought had my back, as I had theirs. This is not something we have even discussed as a group yet, let alone processed."
Florida college student lied about being suspended 3 years over pro-Palestinian protest arrest
A college student arrested during pro-Palestinian protests at the University of Florida in the spring lied this week about being suspended for three years from nearby Santa Fe College as punishment.
Vivienne Serret
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9th, 2024
University of Florida Students Suspended for Their Role in Pro-Palestine Demonstrations
Before Criminal Charges are Resolved Dean of Students issues multi-year academic suspensions, while students appeal the decision and demand their criminal charges be dropped.
The six University of Florida (UF) students who were arrested at the pro-Palestine demonstration at UF on April 29 have all been issued academic suspensions from their respective administrations. Those charged with misdemeanors have been suspended until 2027, and one student charged with a felony was suspended until 2028.
The Dean's sanctions are far more severe than almost all of those recommended by the Student Conduct Committees (SCC), which conducted disciplinary hearings in May and June. All seven students have submitted appeals, and are still awaiting a final decision.
The SCC-recommended academic sanctions and actual imposed sanctions for the seven students are as follows:
• Rose Bisram: recommended 3-year suspension; received 3-year suspension
• Allan Frasheri: recommended 1-year suspension; received 4-year suspension
• Keely Gliwa: recommended probation; received 3-year suspension
• Gliwa was set to graduate with a MS in Biochemistry on May 2. Their diploma is now being withheld for the duration of the suspension
• Parker Hovis: recommended deferred suspension; received 3-year suspension
• Augustino Pulliam: unknown recommendation; received 3-year suspension
• Tess Segal: recommended 1-year suspension and 2-year probation; received 3-year suspension
All nine arrestees, including two community members who are not students, are facing criminal prosecution by the state. While most arrestees were originally charged with wearing a mask in public and failure to obey a lawful order, all but two are now charged with one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest without violence.
Parker Hovis is charged with an additional misdemeanor trespass, and Allan Frasheri is charged with a felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer.
All arraignments occurred in June and early July, where each defendant pleaded not guilty.
Additionally, all nine arrestees have been offered deferred prosecution agreements, but all nine are choosing to fight their charges instead. "We did not resist arrest and we are prepared to fight our charges," said Parker Hovis, one of the arrested UF students. "We're standing in solidarity with each other, and collectively demanding that the state drop the charges against us,” continued Hovis. “We will not sit idly by while our rights to peaceful expression, speech, and assembly are criminalized." Pre-trial hearings have been scheduled on 5 different dates between July 17 andAugust 6.
Charges have been dropped against pro-Palestine student protesters at numerous universities across the country. For example, all 71 protesters at Arizona State University Tempe had their cases dismissed without prejudice in May (AZ Family, 5/14/24). Two cases against University of South Carolina protesters were also dismissed in May (Post and Courier, 5/29/24). Criminal trespassing charges were dropped in June against all 79 protesters arrested at University of Texas Austin, with the Travis County Attorney’s Office citing an inability to meet their legal burden to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt (Texas Tribune, 6/26/24).
Prosecutors similarly cited a lack of evidence in dropping charges against 31 Columbia University protesters (CNN, 6/21/24). Decisions not to proceed with criminal charges against hundreds of pro-Palestine students indicate an overreaction by police and inappropriately applied academic sanctions.
Ramping up the rhetoric against Palestine solidarity demonstrations, both UF President Ben Sasse and Governor Ron DeSantis have suggested that their goal is to protect Jewish students. However, two of the nine protesters arrested at UF are Jewish. "Asking my university to divest from war is an act of tikkun olam," said Tess Segal, one of the arrested UF students. "I stand in solidarity with Palestinians not in spite of my Judaism, but because of it."
