UT Austin Palestine rally: Criminal charges dropped against some protestors

UT Austin rally: Criminal charges dropped

Criminal charges have been dropped against many protestors by the Travis County Attorney's Office, citing "deficiencies in the probable cause affidavits."

AUSTIN, Texas - Cheers erupted outside the Travis County Jail on Thursday as protesters reunited with family and friends. Many of them left the jail with their charges dropped.

"I was in front of the cops, they were telling us to back up," said one protester. "I was backing up, and then they just pointed at me, and they just got me."

The Travis County attorney has dropped criminal charges against some of the protestors arrested on Wednesday during a pro-Palestine rally.

According to the Travis County Sheriff's Office, 57 people were arrested during the demonstration on the University of Texas at Austin campus.

"They were accusing me of criminal trespassing," said Lazarus Omkoscielniak, a protester. " I don't feel that that's correct at all."

FOX 7 photographer released from jail

A look from the Travis County Jail as students and others arrested at the pro-Palestine rally on the UT campus are being released. One of those arrested was a FOX 7 Austin photographer who has been released from jail.

LIVE COVERAGE: UT Austin Palestine protest held for second day

The County Attorney's office says it received 46 cases Wednesday and throughout the evening.

"The Travis County Attorney’s Office received several cases yesterday and throughout the evening as a result of yesterday’s demonstration at the University of Texas. Legal concerns were raised by defense counsel. We individually reviewed each case that was presented and agreed there were deficiencies in the probable cause affidavits," the office said in a statement. "The Court affirmed and ordered the release of those individuals. We will continue to individually review all cases presented to our office to determine whether prosecution is factually and legally appropriate."

"I think that's the right thing to do," said Leatherbury. "I think unless you have specific evidence that an individual was engaging in violent conduct, or, then I think, air on the side of protecting protest, and certainly air on the side of protecting peaceful protest. So, I'm not surprised."

The University of Texas issued this statement Thursday as well:

"Wednesday’s protest organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee sought to follow the playbook of the national campaign to paralyze the operations of universities across the country. Like at each of those universities, and confirming our serious concern, there was significant participation by outside groups present on our campus yesterday. This outside group presence is what we’ve seen from the affiliated national organization’s efforts to disrupt and create disorder. Roughly half (26) of the 55 people who violated Institutional Rules and were ultimately arrested were unaffiliated with The University of Texas. Thirteen pro-Palestinian free speech events have taken place at the University largely without incident since October. In contrast, this one in particular expressed an intent to disrupt the campus and directed participants to break Institutional Rules and occupy the University, consistent with national patterns."

Palestine protest: FOX 7 photographer arrested

Footage taken by a FOX 7 photographer at the UT Palestine protests shows him being detained and arrested by Texas DPS troopers.

The office says it will continue reviewing all the cases presented to determine whether prosecution is "factually and legally appropriate".

The Travis County Sheriff's Office told FOX 7 Austin that 57 people total were booked into the Travis County Jail and as of 5 p.m., all had been released.

UT Austin rally: Arrests made

Texas DPS said more than 20 arrests were made at UT Austin during protests on campus. Some protesters were taken into custody while demonstrating for Palestine. Pro-Israel students were also there to make their voices heard.

A FOX 7 Austin photographer was one of those arrested during the demonstration. After the protest line was moved back, social media video shows the photographer being pulled backwards to the ground by Texas DPS troopers. He was then detained and taken to jail.

He was charged with criminal trespass, but those charges have been dismissed.

"I feel particularly pained by the arrest of photographers that I understand happened," said Thomas Leatherbury, the director of the First Amendment Clinic at SMU. "You know, they're not protesting. They're covering the protest, and I wouldn't be surprised if they caught footage of a disproportionate police response."

Most of the charges may now be dropped, but in the coming days, Leatherbury said there will still be a lot to uncover about what all went down.

"It's going to be a real fact-intensive exercise to see: was the police response disproportionate to what was going on, or was there unprotected speech that was happening?" said Leatherbury.

The University of Texas Police Department is listed as the arresting agency in many, if not all, of these cases.

FOX 7 Austin reached out for comment.

So far, we have only received a statement from the university, and not directly from the police.