BREAKING: AUSTIN, TEXAS— In a rally that mirrored events unfolding at universities across the country, pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas protestors at the University of Texas participated in a mass scale student organization-run demonstration on campus last Wednesday.

The demonstration led to 57 arrests. According to the Progressive Travis County Attorney’s office, all charges have been declined against each individual arrested. The arrests, which were for criminal trespassing charges, lacked probable cause, the attorney’s office said. 

County Attorney Delia Garza told American-Statesman on Thursday that “her office agreed with defense lawyers that there were ‘deficiencies’ with the probable cause arrest affidavits, which are the documents filled out by law enforcement to justify an arrest.” 

At that time on Thursday, 46 of the 57 arrested individuals had their charges dropped. By late Friday morning, charges against all 57 arrested individuals were dropped.

According to a statement by UT officials, at least 26 of the 57 people arrested were not affiliated with the university, adding that the event “expressed an intent to disrupt the campus and directed participants to break Institutional Rules and occupy the University, consistent with national patterns.”

“National patterns” refers to recent pro-Palestine and pro-Hamas university protests at Columbia University and Harvard University earlier this week. Both events were led by Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), resulting in the radical committee’s suspension from both campuses.

At Columbia University in New York, over one hundred university students were arrested and charged with trespassing. The event sparked a wave of student protests across the country. 

On Thursday, UT’s branch of PSC was suspended for “violating university rules,” according to UT Spokesperson Brian Davis.

“To be clear, the group is on interim suspension, not any individuals,” Davis said in a text message issued on Thursday night.

PSC, a registered student organization and chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, organized the Wednesday protest. A junior at UT and member of PSC named Ammer Qaddumi has received viral recognition as the first person arrested at Wednesday’s protest. 

When law enforcement officers detained him, the crowd roared chants of “Let him go.”

After Qaddumi’s sister, Lamar, a UT sophomore and fellow member of PSC, bonded him out of jail, Qaddumi attended a second demonstration at UT Thursday. He was among several notable speakers, including U.S. Rep. Greg Casar (D-Austin) and Austin City Council Member Zohaib Qadri.

UT is currently investigating the alleged violations of the university’s student organization rules while PSC is suspended. 

Interestingly, Qaddumi, who was allegedly in charge of the Wednesday and Thursday UT protest, was exposed by X (formerly Twitter) user FoiaFan as a former intern for progressive Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

Per Quaddumi’s LinkedIn account, under Hidalgo, he served as a finance fellow for three months, between September and November 2022.

The Marxist Harris County judge is a known sympathizer of Hamas. In February, she issued a statement essentially asking Israel to stand down and cease fire, while avoiding specific use of that phrase.

“The sheer number of casualties in Gaza surpassing 27,000 individuals [the vast majority of whom were not Hamas fighters], who were killed by military attacks or who died due to lack of access to resources, demands a consideration of the proportionality of actions,” Hidalgo wrote in her tearful statement.

      Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo is a known sympathizer of Hamas.

“Beyond the horrible deaths, many people in Gaza are starving and without medical care. Permanently eradicating Hamas may be impossible, and it is appropriate to weigh the cost of innocent lives and livelihoods against the potential gains. I feel that the further inroads the Israeli government might be able to make in continuing to try to cripple Hamas do not warrant the huge number of civilian deaths in Gaza, nor the scale of destruction.”

“I commend the Biden administration’s steps to sanction those responsible for illegal violence against Palestinians in the West Bank,” the county judge wrote. “This action is overdue, and to my knowledge, the first time an American president has taken these kinds of concrete and tangible measures against unjustifiable Israeli actions in the West Bank.”

“As I unequivocally call for Hamas to immediately release and return all of the remaining hostages and to lay down their arms, I also urge that the Israeli government prioritize the protection of civilian lives, seek a swift end to the war, and try to find a deal for the release of hostages and the cessation of hostilities as soon as possible,” she wrote.

“I appreciate that the United States and Israel have shared values, a strong historical alliance, and a longtime friendship. That said, even in the closest of friendships, we must hold each other accountable, and we must speak up when we deem it responsible to do so.”