Protesters who disrupted Israeli ambassador at UC Irvine charged by prosecutors
The Orange County district attorney’s office on Friday charged 11 defendants with conspiring to disrupt a meeting and a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States at UC Irvine last year.
The move comes after about 50 protesters rallied in front of the Orange County district attorney’s office Tuesday. Though some have criticized the students’ method of protest, many said that university punishment was sufficient enough for the “Irvine 11,” as the students came to be known.
In a statement, Orange County Dist. Atty.Tony Rackauckas said the case was filed because of an “organized attempted to squelch the speaker.” He also said the students “meant to stop this speech and stop anyone else from hearing his ideas, and they did so by disrupting a lawful meeting.”
“We must decide whether we are a country of laws or a country of anarchy,” he said. “We cannot tolerate a pre-planned violation of the law, even if the crime takes place on a school campus and even if the defendants are college students. In our democratic society, we cannot tolerate a deliberate, organized, repetitive and collective effort to significantly disrupt a speaker who hundreds assembled to hear.”
The Muslim Student Union, which denied planning to obstruct the speech, was suspended by the university. It was one of the first instances in recent memory in which the school recommended the ban of a student group for an action other than hazing or alcohol abuse. Individual students were also disciplined by the university.
The Feb. 8, 2010, incident sparked a debate about free speech at the campus after a group of students disrupted a speech by Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Oren was shouted down repeatedly, and supporters cheered as students were escorted away by police.
The students are accused of meeting with other members of the Muslim Student Union to discuss options to respond to the speech as far out as six days before the event.
According to prosecutors, students circulated e-mails and held multiple meetings to plan the disruption of the speech. One of the students is accused of sending an e-mail to the MSU-UCI message board announcing that “we will be staging a University of Chicago Style disruption of the Ambassador’s speech.”
Approximately 500 to 700 people had assembled for the meeting, authorities say.
Eight of the defendants are students at UC Irvine and the other three were students at UC Riverside. Each is charged with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and one misdemeanor count of the disturbance of the meeting. If convicted, they could be fined and/or sentenced to probation with community service or six months in jail.
The students will be arraigned March 11 in Santa Ana.
-- Nicole Santa Cruz
EDITOR'S PICKS:
This is clearly an abuse of power due to an obvious lack of judgment by the DA. It will have to be cured at the ballot box.
Hopefully the Judge is wiser and sees the punishment given out by UCI since this was a school function as appropriate and sufficient.
Posted by: Marie Wilson | February 05, 2011 at 10:20 AM
Time to stop these Muslim extremists. Next they will be blowing themselves up in Irvine.
Posted by: Ann Common | February 05, 2011 at 10:33 AM
And why are these pukes still in America?? Deport immediately, close the borders, convict every communist in barry's cabal, and drug test EVERY member of congress and senate, first in line, bella lagosi pelosi....Wake Up Sheeple!!!
Posted by: Intellibronc | February 05, 2011 at 10:45 AM
These Muslim students need to learn that this is a country of laws and not an Arab dictatorship. Neither is it the theocracy of Iran. All of those countries are judenrein, which seems to be their aim.
Posted by: Michael Kennedy | February 05, 2011 at 11:06 AM
Makes me wonder what road we are on as a country of laws & civil liberties. So what if they planed this rally. Don't most groups have meetings to plan? Also sure they heckeled the speaker of this event, big deal it is called free speach. That is one of the basic rights of this country. What right to we have to tell other countries to govern a certain way when we act counter to what we say.
Posted by: Robert Winston | February 05, 2011 at 11:18 AM
Egypt in the house!
Posted by: Ollie | February 05, 2011 at 11:37 AM
A silent protest inside the talk - fine. Shouting down the talker - that's not.
Protests outside the talk - fine. Blocking the entrance into the talk - that's not.
The right to free speech does not include the right to block other's free speech.
The students were clearly wrong.
Posted by: Laer Carroll | February 05, 2011 at 11:41 AM
Too bad all the students on this thread studying to be brain surgeons didn't bother to do their homework. The MSA (Muslim Student Association) is an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. They were founded in 1963 at the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun.
www. investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/31.pdf
But don't take my word for it. Look it up yourself. Use your heads. Perhaps there are more to these charges than meets the eye.
Posted by: Isabella | February 05, 2011 at 11:49 AM
Felony charges for this? I suspect even Orange County jurors might find this to be overkill.
Posted by: Silverlake Mike | February 05, 2011 at 12:01 PM
Since its inception, the MSA has chronically been a vehicle of extremism, hatred, and incitement to violence. Its chapters host a wide variety of extremist speakers and have repeatedly raised funds for Islamic groups that have later been closed by the U.S. government for funding terrorism. For this reason, the MSA was identified in 2004 as one of 27 Islamic charities and groups in the U.S. under investigation by the Senate Finance Committee for terrorist support.
One of the darkest secrets of the MSA, certainly never advertised by the organization or mentioned in their publications, is a rather lengthy list of top MSA leaders who have been arrested and convicted on a wide array of terrorism charges, ranging from material support of terrorist groups to being actively involved in terrorist plots.
It is important to stress that these are not fringe figures in the MSA organization, but some of its top leaders.
Check out these prominent alumni:
Abdulrahman Alamoudi who served as MSA national president in 1982 and 1983, is serving a 23-year prison sentence for his international terrorist activities. In 2005, the Treasury Department called his arrest "a severe blow to al-Qaeda, as Alamoudi had a close relationship with al-Qaeda and raised money for al Qaeda in the United States."
Aafia Siddiqui was convicted in February of the attempted murder of a U.S. Army captain while she was incarcerated and being interrogated at a prison in Afghanistan. Siddiqui was active in the MSA while attending MIT. According to a 2005 story in Vogue, Siddiqui authored a guide published by the national MSA organization encouraging members not to water down Islamic doctrine on issues such as jihad.
Ali Asad Chandia (Virginia Paintball Jihad fame) convicted of terror charges as part of the Northern Virginia jihad network, was president of the Montgomery College (Maryland) MSA. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence.
Al-Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki , (the guy who was emailing with the Ft. Hood shooting terrorist Maj. Nidal Hassan and would be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad, just to name two) currently the U.S. government's most wanted terrorist, served as chaplain for George Washington University's MSA.
Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, former president of the University of Arizona MSA, was one of al-Qaida's co-founders and its logistics boss.
There were also:
University of Idaho MSA president Sami Omar Al-Hussayen
Ramy Zamzam, who served as the president of the MSA’s D.C. Council
Syed Maaz Shah (who was arrested on his way to final exams at the University of Texas-Dallas) who served as secretary of the UTD MSA
Ziyad Khaleel, the president of the Columbia College (MO) MSA
But don't take my word for it. Check these guys out yourselves.
Posted by: Isabella | February 05, 2011 at 12:08 PM
Right on Irvine 11! Down with tyrant Rackauckas who tramples freedom!
Posted by: Schigolch | February 05, 2011 at 12:09 PM
Another example of Israeli control of our government, apparently at all levels.
This must end.
Posted by: deadcolonywalking | February 05, 2011 at 12:31 PM
It is wrong to embrace and love the jew murderers!
Let the muslem people be free.
this is America
Posted by: Sue | February 05, 2011 at 12:35 PM
It is well known that US universities are dominated by old hippie leftist profs who have not grown out of their sixties "fight the man" paradigm. It is common for conservative lecturers to be silenced through intimidation when invited to speak; there 1st amendment rights are not defended. It is a breathe of fresh air to see a university actually stand up and defend someone for exercising "unpopular" speech. This needs to be reinforced at all universities if we are to survive as a free people. The first amendment does make exceptions for speech that makes you feel "uncomfortable." In other words, subjective notions such as "hate speech" are nothing but a bad orwellian joke.
Posted by: Bob | February 05, 2011 at 01:36 PM
I forgot, should Sarah Palin be allowed to speak at a California school? Or is that different somehow? What was the fuss at Rancho Las Palmas Resort? Maybe the problem is that the Muslims do not have Mexican citizenship. After all, we are talking California.
Posted by: lsmft | February 05, 2011 at 03:15 PM
The only reason this is being prosecuted is because of the relentless pressure brought to bear on the DA's office and UC Irvine by the Jewish Federation of Orange County. Disruptions at city council and town hall meetings by white Christian Teabaggers in the OC have never been prosecuted and never will be. It's all about the Muslims, baby.
Posted by: ChunkLite | February 05, 2011 at 03:42 PM
This isn't Egypt. As for the sympathetic bloggers,...Muslims were angry prior to modern day Israel. The prosecuters did the right thing. A line has to be drawn in the sand and those that cross it do so at their own peril.
Posted by: Gayle Earnhart | February 05, 2011 at 05:02 PM
Palestine since 1947 remains a INCOMPLETE FAKE nation
The facts are undeniable
From 1948 through 1967, Israel controlled very little of historic Palestine.
Most of it, including the entire West Bank, was under the control of Jordan.
It was not until Israel captured more of that land in the Six-Day War,
That THE MUSLIMS PROPIGATED .. that a real Palestinian NATION belonged there
They want to replace the HEBREW bible, the hebrew PEOPLE
The hebrew nation with this junk history & propaganda lie..
the Syrian chief of staff, DECLARED "Our goal is clear -- to wipe Israel off the face of the map.
" Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who ousted U.N. peacekeepers from the Egypt-Israel border and blockaded Israeli shipping through the Straits of Tiran,
foresaw a "total war . . . aimed at Israel's destruction.
" Bracing & called up their army reserve, & ready gas masks
The muslims DECLARED
"We shall destroy Israel and prepare boats to deport the survivors," the Palestine Liberation Organization pledged, "if there are any."
The JEWS won the war..TOOK the land that Was so so close to their borders THAT it was dangerous to NOT KEEP them MONITERED at every second...
Thus, the Arab refugees ( WHO THE JEW HATERS OF THE EARTH }{
SUDDENLY call the special AREA the desiginated SPECIAL Palestine refugee nation...
for the last 60 + years. The MUSLIM COUNTRIES have refused to settle them,
The MUSLIM COUNTRIES have refused to help them
While slipping their suicide Bombers & missle LAUNCH PADS into the border THROUGh these muslims ..
WHILE they use them as a wedge against the legitimacy of the state of Israel.
israel allows these people from Palestine to come & work & make a life ...there
To worship to have churches ...
JEWS are not even allowed to ask for peace / ?
& secure their borders from these pagan monsters ?
Posted by: reXteryalizer | February 05, 2011 at 08:14 PM
The prosecutor just gave the students what they really wanted, national attention. Like all protests of this type, the object is to get arrested for all the media attention.
Stupid people suck into this one every-time! Just like flag burning-- What hot button for publicity!
Laughing all the way, I say go students go!
Posted by: John Piller | February 05, 2011 at 09:15 PM
Finally! Freedom of speech does not include preventing others from having the right to free speech. If you don't want to hear a speaker don't attend, but to prevent them from speaking should give you jail time and if you are not a citizen and you continue this pattern, you should be deported.
Posted by: cindy | February 05, 2011 at 09:56 PM
I recall the meeting for parents and relatives of new students held by UCI. We were to treat them as adults as the university would. Grades are not released to us and they are given their own email address. After all, they are adults now. On UCI property they are allowed to form clubs, have peaceful assembly, and all other manner of things befitting the rights of an adult. As such, they should be treated as adults in every way, including conforming to the laws. They broke the law. They were stupid enough to document their crimes through email. A few nights in jail would do them a world of good. They claim to be victims. They are wrong. They are merely criminals.
Posted by: Elizabeth Lascheid | February 05, 2011 at 10:04 PM
Congratulations to the prosecutors! It is about time we
take common sense actions when it comes to this type of
planned anarchy...
Posted by: leebert | February 05, 2011 at 10:08 PM
THESE HATERS ARE SPY's.OFF WITH THERE HEADS."
Posted by: SIXGUNSAL: | February 06, 2011 at 04:09 AM
NO POLITICAL BIASES. I'm glad the Orange County DA and UCI took action against these people. The Muslim Student Association is notorious on the campus of UCI for their riot like heckling. MAY JUSTICE PREVAIL!!!
Posted by: Brian | February 06, 2011 at 05:28 AM
obama "If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it."OBAMA,Will screw them hard, fast, and in an elegant manner."obama The conqueror is always a lover of peace; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."the commander
Posted by: COMMANDER | February 06, 2011 at 06:28 AM