Last year in February, at the University of California in
Irvine, 11 students practicing their right of free speech interrupted a speech
by Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. Throughout his
speech, the 11 students, eight of them from UC Irvine and three from UC
Riverside, stood up and called out the ambassador for his hypocrisy and lies.
The students were then escorted out of the event by security
and staged a small protest outside of the university. As a result of this
incident, the Muslim Student Union was suspended for a quarter and the
university experienced widespread debates about freedom of speech.
Now, a year later, the students are being charged with two
misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and disturbance of the
meeting. The students will be indicted March 11. If found guilty, they face up
to six months in jail, fines, or probation and community service.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas says he
decided to charge the students because, according to him, “They meant to stop
this speech and stop anyone else from hearing his ideas and they did so by
disrupting a lawful meeting.”
On Feb. 1, just a few days after Rackauckas’ announcement, 75
supporters of the 11 students protested in front of the district attorney’s
office in Santa Ana.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation stands in solidarity
with the Irvine 11 and supports the students’ right to stand up and denounce
racists like Michael Oren. All the charges against the Irvine 11 should be
dropped immediately.
