Irvine 11: Jury reaches verdict in free-speech case
An Orange County jury has reached a verdict in the Irvine 11 case of Muslim students accused of conspiring and disrupting a February 2010 speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.
The case garnered national attention over free-speech rights and centered on conflicting views of who was being censored. Prosecutors argued that Ambassador Michael Oren was "shut down" when his speech was interrupted by students who took turns shouting preplanned phrases in a crowded UC Irvine ballroom.
Six defense attorneys argued that the students, seven from UC Irvine and three from UC Riverside, were only following the norm of other college protests and were being singled out.
The verdict will be read at 11 a.m.
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-- Nicole Santa Cruz and Kimi Yoshino
Photo: College students protest in front of the offices of the Orange County District Attorney in Santa Ana over charges being brought against the 11 students who interrupted a speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren at UC Irvine last year. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times
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