Delaware County prosecutor charging protesting students arrested at Ball State board meeting
The Delaware County prosecutor has formally charged four Ball State University students and a fifth person with disorderly conduct. This comes after they were arrested for disrupting a Ball State board meeting late last month.
In a statement, Eric Hoffman says each person is charged with two counts of disorderly conduct, and the cases will be tried in Muncie City Court. He says he believes in the First Amendment, but clarifies courts have ruled “those freedoms and rights are not absolute.”
The first four charged are enrolled students at Ball State. The fifth is not a registered student. All are adults:
- Joseph M. Souza
- Cooper P. Archer
- Keegan M. Bassett
- Jax C. Dodds
- Zoe-Rose C. Dieguez
At past meetings, protesting students have sat or stood quietly with signs of all sizes. Those signs have frequently shown Pro-Palestinian viewpoints.
Read More: Ball State joins pro-Palestinian college protests with small ‘encampment’
The February 28 Ball State Board of Trustees meetings, for the first time, displayed signs outside the public entrance and inside the visitor’s gallery warning the public not to disrupt the meeting. Prior to the meeting, students had let it be known they would also be protesting past actions by trustee Brian Gallagher, when he ran United Way Worldwide.
After February’s meeting, university spokesman Greg Fallon said of the about 30 people protesting, the five now charged “loudly disrupted the meeting by yelling.” He said they were warned by the board chair to stop and kept yelling. University Police handled the arrests.
According to Indiana law, the misdemeanor charges can carry up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Stephanie Wiechmann is our Managing Editor and “All Things Considered” Host. Contact her at [email protected].
