AUSTIN, Texas — During the protests at the University of Texas at Austin on Wednesday, numerous pro-Palestinian activists were arrested and faced criminal trespassing charges.
According to the Austin American-Statesman, all charges against the 57 arrested individuals have been dropped.
The Travis County attorney’s office said that the charges were dropped because they lacked probable cause.
All individuals arrested in relation to the protest were released from Travis County Jail on Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday evening, Hartzell expressed gratitude to staff members and law enforcement in a letter to the campus community. He stated that, "we are grateful for the countless staff members and state and University law enforcement officers, as well as support personnel who exercised extraordinary restraint in the face of a difficult situation that is playing out at universities across the country."
Another statement was issued on Wednesday night by a group of UT Austin faculty members, expressing their disapproval of Hartzell and the police’s actions during the protest.
According to the faculty, some members observed police “violently arresting students” and expressed their concern for student safety. Brian Evans, American Association of University Professors President of Texas, added that, “like faculty across the university, we are deeply concerned for the well-being of our students. They are right to feel betrayed, both by Wednesday’s violent suppression of their rights to free speech and peaceful protests and by the university’s continued overzealous implementation of Senate Bill 17, systematically undoing years of progress in providing a welcoming and supportive learning environment for students from all walks of life.“