Michigan attorney general drops felony charges against pro-Palestine student protesters

A Michigan court has dismissed all charges against seven students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last year.

The group of students were arrested last year after participating in protests against Israel’s war on Gaza broke out at campuses across the country. They faced felony charges of resisting and obstructing police at the University of Michigan and misdemeanor charges of trespassing. They had pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel dropped all charges against the students. While she said she said she stood by her decision to seek felony charges in a statement, she criticized Ann Arbor Judge Cedric Simpson for delays to the case and critics who accused her of bias against Muslims and Arab Americans, she said that she no longer believes “these cases to be a prudent use of my department’s resources, and, as such, I have decided to dismiss the cases.”