UC Irvine students accused of disrupting Israeli ambassador 'caught red-handed,' O.C. deputy district attorney says
Orange County prosecutors filed a motion Friday that would to release grand jury transcripts involving a group of university student activists charged with disturbing an Israeli ambassador's speech last year at UC Irvine.
Prosecutors also handed the media copies of court filings illustrating point by point how the university students -- since dubbed "the Irvine 11" -- allegedly conspired to disrupt Ambassador Michael Oren's Feb. 8, 2010, speech at UCI, then cover it up afterward.
"They're caught red-handed," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Wagner outside of the courtroom. "They very intentionally tried to shut down this meeting."
Prosecutors have charged eight former or current UCI students and three UC Riverside students with misdemeanor conspiracy to commit a crime and misdemeanor disruption of a meeting. Seven of the 11, who are in their late teens and early 20s, were in court Friday afternoon and pleaded not guilty. Attorneys pleaded not guilty on behalf of the other four.
Read the full report on the 'Irvine 11' here.
-- Joseph Serna, Daily Pilot / Times Community News
Photo: Mohamed Abdelgany, left, Khalid Akari, Shaheen Nassar and Hakim Kebir, four of 11 students in the case, are flanked by their attorneys at an arraignment hearing Friday. All pleaded not guilty. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
EDITOR'S PICKS:
At least the prosecutors used some restraint and charged 2 misdemeanors; had the Barry Bonds prosecutors been on the case it would have been 4 or 5 felonies a person.
Posted by: PJM | April 16, 2011 at 09:22 AM
And yet no Israeli has been prosecuted for the slaughter in Gaza, the highjacking of a humanitarian aid ship in international waters, using cluster bombs on civilians in Lebanon or running over an American citizen with a bulldozer. They should have arrested the Ambassador, and put him on trial for crimes against humanity. Instead they prosecute protestors calling attention to the international outlaw status of the Israeli government.
Posted by: Robert | April 16, 2011 at 09:38 AM
The Israeli ambassador's appearance was part of a campaign of premeditated murder in order to steal land. As such, it is the ambassador's speech that was a crime, and misdemeanors committed to stop that crime are legally permissible. Prosecution of the Irvine 11 is support of the criminal mass murder and robbery machine known as Israel, and is therefore a crime in itself.
Posted by: salem | April 16, 2011 at 10:14 AM
"UC Irvine students accused of disrupting Israeli ambassador 'caught red-handed,' O.C. deputy district attorney says". For what? Exercising their right to free speech?
Posted by: affableman | April 16, 2011 at 11:26 AM
Conspired to shut down an address on a UC Campus.
What part of academic freedom do these neanderthals not understand.
If convicted, they should lose all rights and priviledges of attending any UC.
Send a message.
Posted by: RobietheCat | April 16, 2011 at 01:57 PM
Muslim bullying happens in our institutions and throughout the world. Only unlike typical schoolyard bullies, people dont normally survive terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Annie | April 16, 2011 at 02:03 PM