14 people arrested in Tulane protests found not guilty of misdemeanors

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Fourteen people arrested earlier this year during protests at Tulane University over the Israel-Hamas war were acquitted on misdemeanor criminal charges Friday in New Orleans.

The people — some of whom were students at Tulane or neighboring Loyola University — were arrested May 1 after police broke up a two-day encampment at Tulane in front of campus buildings fronting St. Charles Avenue. They were charged with “remaining in places after being forbidden.”

State District Judge Ben Willard ruled the defendants were not guilty the same day their trial began, New Orleans news outlets reported.

Defense lawyers argued in opening statements Friday morning that the defendants were not on campus but on public sidewalks or street medians when they were arrested.

Dozens of supporters of the 14 people gathered outside the courthouse and in hallways during the hearing.

The defendants were among hundreds who have been arrested nationwide during college campus demonstrations arising from the war that followed the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion into Israel. Protesters have called for universities to separate themselves from companies advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza and in some cases from Israel itself.