SANTA ANA, Calif. — Leaders with the Council on American-Islamic Relations joined defendants and other activists in a news conference Tuesday calling on prosecutors to drop charges against 50 people arrested in a crackdown on a pro-Palestinian encampment at UC Irvine in May.

"We are here today to unequivocally condemn the Orange County DA's charges against ... anti-genocide protesters," CAIR attorney Dina Chehata said.

The civil rights attorney said supporters come from all different backgrounds and stages of life, "And the one thing we all stand united against is Israel's genocide against Palestinians and our government's complicity in it."

Arraignments are scheduled Wednesday for the defendants in Santa Ana.

The pro-Palestinian encampment had been largely peaceful for a few weeks, but when protesters surrounded the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on May 15, campus police sought help from the Orange County Sheriff's Department and Irvine police as well as other neighboring law enforcement agencies.

Hundreds of law enforcement personnel descended on the Irvine campus to break up the encampment.

Chehata argued that he university and the Orange County District Attorney's Office share "a history of silencing Palestinian voices," pointing to the so-called "Irvine 11" case against students who protested an ambassador's visit to the campus in 2010.

"We remember the Irvine 11," Chehata said.

She also pointed out how Muslim students were referred to the FBI for inviting someone to speak on campus to discuss humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

The prosecutions are meant to "silence dissent," and are "a direct attack on the 1st Amendment ... Stay silence or face the consequences," Chehata alleged.

Amr Shabaik, CAIR-LA's legal director, characterized the cases as an "extreme waste of and misuse of tax dollars."

Estee Chandler, chair of the Jewish Voice for Peace Los Angeles, said the protests that emerged on campuses nationally after war broke out in Gaza prompted by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israeli civilians were mostly peaceful, but were met with a "militarized response" that "aimed to suppress civil disobedience."

Chandler described resistance to the pro-Palestine protests as "Zionist McCarthyism" that includes "smears" of antisemitism against activists.

Hasna El-Nounou of the Muslim Student Association West said the harassment of protesters includes the "doxxing" (publicly identifying) of protesters to destroy their future academic and professional interests.

UCI professor Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, who is facing felony charges in the case, accused university officials of making a "false report" to law enforcement that some of the protesters had taken over a building on campus to justify the "police raid."

Willoughby-Herard said the encampment was an opportunity for students to learn about democracy and put it into practice, but they were met with "terrifying violence."

She added to university officials, "You can't be afraid of learning."

"I do not consent to genocide ... I will not make excuses for genocide," she said. "... I will not look away from genocide ... These charges need to be dropped."

Lubna Hummad, co-founder of Yalla Indivisible who is also facing charges, said the arrests represented a "very sad day for me and my community."

She added that the students were "in mourning" the day of the crackdown, referring to a significant date in the 1948 war in Palestine.

"We were mourning and protesting," she said.

She added they were also mourning the civilian deaths of children in the conflict sparked by the Oct. 7 Hamas abductions and attacks on Jews. 

"I have a daughter," she said, choking up. "Every time I hold (her) in my arms I remember ... and I think of the tens of thousands of children whose parents can no longer hold them in their arms, kiss their foreheads or smell their hair."

Hammad said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer charged the students and professors "to push his political agenda."

"Anyone who was there that day knows there were no riots," she said.

The District Attorney's Office issued a statement saying, "The conduct of each individual arrested at the May 15, 2024, protest at UCI was thoroughly investigated and then reviewed to determine whether a crime occurred and could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Each individual's actions were evaluated independently and charges were filed consistent with that person's criminal culpability. Freedom of speech is a right afforded to everyone, but university campuses are not immune from criminal consequences when peaceful protests cross the line into criminal behavior. The law applies equally to everyone and those who choose to break the law will be held accountable accordingly."

When additional defendants were charged last month, UCI spokesman Tom Vasich issued the following statement:

"UC Irvine has a longstanding commitment to upholding free speech and peaceful protest. While we encourage all members of the campus community to exercise their right to express their views, they are also expected to comply with all applicable laws, university policies, and codes of conduct while doing so. It is important to clarify that the university is not involved in the decision by the Orange County District Attorney's Office to file criminal charges against individuals arrested on campus during the May 15 incident.

"As part of ongoing efforts across the University of California system, UC Irvine is clearly communicating with all members of the university community regarding campus policies, their enforcement, and the balance between free expression and campus safety."