GPSCZ CONDEMNS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED PROSECUTION OF UCSC STUDENT PROTESTER

The Green Party of Santa Cruz County strongly condemns what appears to be a politically motivated prosecution of a UC Santa Cruz student arrested during pro-Palestine protests on campus.

The legal action, initiated by the District Attorney's office, raises serious concerns about the selective application of justice and the timing of the prosecution. The authorities' decision to wait a full year to prosecute a single student on generic charges of "resisting arrest" and "assaulting an officer" suggests a troubling pattern of targeted enforcement rather than genuine public safety concerns.

Our organization stands firmly in support of those who exercise their constitutional right to protest against what we recognize as the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. We note that many pro-Palestinian protesters, including a significant number of Jewish activists, have raised legitimate concerns about Israel's systematic violations of the Oslo Accords and continued settlement expansion.

The current wave of legal actions against activists—including Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University, the unnamed UCSC student in Santa Cruz, and numerous expelled students and terminated faculty members nationwide—represents an unprecedented assault on academic freedom and First Amendment rights in educational institutions across America.

The Green Party of Santa Cruz County calls on all citizens to remain vigilant against this erosion of constitutional rights under the guise of "special circumstances." Such extraordinary powers, once claimed by government authorities, historically prove difficult to reverse.