A Knox County grand jury could determine whether a group of protesters will be tried on criminal charges after their arrests during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Eleven people, including students and local residents, were arrested May 15 on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespassing during a peaceful demonstration on the University of Tennessee College of Law lawn. University officials notified them that they were trespassing on the law college lawn and previously restricted demonstrators to a designated area outside the Student Union.
During a June 24 hearing, Judge Judson Kyle Davis commended the group of demonstrators for their bravery, but said it was not his position to make a decision based on emotion.
“All I have to consider is the statute of criminal trespassing. There have been some good arguments that were obviously very well studied, and some of those arguments are hard for me to disagree with, but it’s not something for me to consider. I think it’s more of a jury question,“ Davis said.