DA charges Pro-Palestine protesters after clash with police outside Cal Poly career fair
On Monday, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office formally charged nine Pro-Palestine protesters who were arrested after a clash with police outside of Cal Poly’s winter career fair in January.
The eight arrested on Jan. 23 were among a group of about 20 protesters who attempted to break into the Recreation Center to protest defense contractors with connections to the Israeli military. The university was aware of the protest prior and had stationed officers outside the career fair to prevent the protesters from entering, according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier.
Protesters Daria Birkholz, 23; Alejandro Bupara, 29; Raleigh Delk, 26; Sarah Heath, 30; Marcus Hicks, 26; Ollie Lamkin, 20; Elyzajaenine Santos, 23; and Timothy Jouet, 56, face misdemeanor charges of battery of a peace officer, according to the complaint filed Monday.
Additionally, Lamkin was charged with a misdemeanor of resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer, the complaint said.
Shanae Martinez, 38, was also included in the complaint accused of misdemeanor charges of battery of a peace officer.
Martinez and Santos will be arraigned at the San Luis Obispo Superior Court on March 20 at 8:30 a.m.
The other seven protesters were arraigned on Tuesday morning and pleaded not guilty to their charges. They have a pre-trial conference scheduled for March 19 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 5 at the San Luis Obispo Superior Court.
What happened at the Cal Poly protest?
About 20 people participated in the protest on Jan. 23, marching through campus to the Rec Center to protest weapons manufacturing companies such as General Atomics and Lockheed Martin recruiting students at the university’s Winter Career Fair.
The demonstration turned violent when the university said protesters tried to use barricades to break into the building.
However, Birkholz told The Tribune in January that officers were aggressive long before they made arrests, shoving demonstrators while ordering them to leave the area.
Videos provided to The Tribune show several protesters carrying large wooden signs shaped like riot shields pulling on the barricades as police pushed them back, before other officers run up to assist.
The videos then show an officer throwing Lamkin to the ground, tackling him and hitting him multiple times. Lamkin was among three of the eight protesters who are Cal Poly students.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department said in a news release Jan. 23 that one of its officers “was forced to protect himself when a protester attempted to take one of his weapons.” The officer responded with a hand strike “to retain his weapon,” the department said. The department said it would review the incident to see if policies were followed.
Cal Poly art and design professor Elizabeth Folk witnessed the incident and said the protester did not try to take a weapon from the police officer.
“I have had this student in my class, and he is a sweet, intelligent, curious individual. It was really hard to watch how things played out yesterday,” she wrote in a statement to the Tribune in January.
The eight were taken into custody and released within 24 hours of their initial arrests on bail amounts ranging from $5,000 to $50,000.
Protesters face multiple misdemeanor charges
The protesters face various misdemeanor charges, according to the complaint, all but one of which were for battery of a police officer.
Bupara, Delk, Hicks were charged with four counts of misdemeanor battery of a peace officer.
Birkholz, Heath and Jouet were charged with three counts, Santos was charged with two and Martinez with one.
Lamkin was charged with four counts of misdemeanor battery of a peace officer and one count of misdemeanor resisting, obstructing or delaying a peace officer.
Peace officers listed in the complaint included Arthur Vasquez, Chad Reiley, George Hughes, Juan Castro, Bryce Gingery, Nester Lopez, David Henricksen and Zachary Browne.
