St. Louis Judge Lets Jill Stein Stay Free in 2024 WashU Protest Case

Q: Why were only two people formally charged when over a hundred demonstrators were arrested during the campus sweep?

Only two people were formally charged because prosecutors said they believed they had evidence strong enough to prove specific criminal acts by those individuals, not just participation in the protest or refusal to leave campus. In Stein’s case, the probable cause statement alleges conduct beyond trespassing: grabbing an officer’s bicycle and kicking another officer, who was later diagnosed with injuries. Prosecutors publicly said the charges were based on their judgment that they could prove those misdemeanor counts beyond a reasonable doubt. That helps explain why most of the more than 100 arrests did not turn into filed criminal cases. The other charged protester, Jeron Hicks, was also accused of assaulting an officer. But that case appears to have been dropped. Reporting indicates his lawyer argued that Washington University officers were not “police officers” under Missouri law, which mattered because the charge depended on that status. Public court records for his case are no longer available, suggesting it was dismissed or abandoned. So the short answer is that arrests during the campus sweep were broader than the later prosecutions. Police detained many people during the clearing operation, but prosecutors appear to have narrowed the cases to the few where they believed there was individualized evidence of assault or other chargeable conduct, and even one of those cases may not have held up legally.

3 articles · Updated · St. Louis Post-Dispatch · Aug 18

A St. Louis judge reversed course and allowed Jill Stein to remain free in the case tied to her April 27, 2024 arrest at Washington University.
The case stems from a pro-Palestinian campus protest where marchers set up tents before police moved in and made arrests Saturday night.
Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, joined activists and local politicians at the demonstration, including Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier and Aldermanic President Megan Green.
The ruling follows a brief arrest-warrant episode in the misdemeanor case, which centers on trespassing and assault allegations from the Gaza-war protest.