Charges dropped against 4 Northwestern University employees arrested after alleged police obstruction of pro-Palestinian protests

EVANSTON, Ill. (WLS) — Four Northwestern University employees who filed misdemeanor charges against them earlier this year following pro-Palestinian protests on the university’s campus were dropped on Friday.

The video in the player above is from an earlier report.

The protests took place earlier this year on the Evanston campus, with the Cook County District Attorney’s Office citing its policy of not charging peaceful protesters.

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ABC7 spoke Thursday with Northwestern University Assistant Professor Alithia Zamantakis, one of four university employees previously facing criminal charges for obstructing police after participating in the protests.

“When I refused to come, they came to my office and I was actually arrested and charged,” Zamantakis said.

The assistant professor said Northwestern University police read her Miranda rights in her office on campus. Zamantakis believes the charges violated the academic freedom that faculty and students are supposed to have at the school.

“There is a genocide going on and I acted accordingly… they tried to silence us,” Zamantakis said.

Northwestern acknowledged the allegations earlier this week in a written statement, which also said: “While the university permits peaceful demonstrations, it does not tolerate activities that disrupt university operations, violate the law, or involve the intimidation or harassment of members of the community.”

Zamantakis disagreed.

“We and our lawyer believe these are false accusations,” Zamantakis said.

READ MORE | Pro-Palestinian protesters agree to stop camping at NU, school says