Charges against 20 Brown University students arrested at protest dismissed

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The trespassing charges against the 20 Brown University students who were arrested at a sit-in protest earlier this month have been dismissed, the university said Monday.

The 20 students were scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday, Nov. 28, but “given the unexpected circumstances of recent days,” Brown University said it reached out to the city solicitor’s office to have the charges dismissed without conditions.

Brown University students are escorted off campus in handcuffs after a sit-in protest over the Israel-Hamas war, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2023. (WLNE)

“The vicious attack against one of our students over the weekend in Vermont is reverberating across campus. It has shaken some of our community members deeply, while others are struggling to process what this means, not only for our campus, but for this country and world that we all live in,” the university said in a release.

“There is so much confusion, fear and anger being felt right now that we feel this is a time to bring our community together and try to set aside issues that are exacerbating tensions and division on our campus,” the release continued.

A vigil was also held Monday honoring those three students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont, in a possible hate crime.

From left, Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Hisham Awartani. Awartani is a student at Brown University. (The Institute of Middle East Understanding)

Brown University reiterated that the University Hall building does not have 24-hour access and that officials will take the necessary steps in te future if people trespass in the building after hours.

The university’s release ends by saying, “We have rarely seen a moment like this across this country that pits members of campus communities against each other. These are extraordinary times, and we recognize that. The University hopes this can be a time for our campus to focus on what has long made Brown a special, caring community.”

Back on Nov. 9, nearly 200 Brown University faculty sent a letter to university leadership, calling on them to drop the charges against the 20 students.