Protesters arrested at Kelley will not face charges, prosecutor says

The five protestors arrested Tuesday while staging a sit-in in the Kelley School of Business will not be charged, Monroe County Prosecutor Chris Gaal said Wednesday.

Gaal said the University is within its legal rights to remove disruptive persons who are advised of trespass from its property, but that the punishment is a matter for IU to handle, not the city.

A group of protesters blocked the door to the Cohort Classroom, Room 1050 in the Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center, where bank executives were recruiting business students. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, protesters blocked anyone from entering the room.

When police arrived at the scene, they advised the protesters to move from the door or they would be arrested for trespassing. After the threat of arrest, most of the protesters sitting in front of the door moved away but continued to protest in the surrounding hallway and stairwell. Three protesters remained, however.

The three were taken into custody, as well as two more protestors after they sat down in front of the door following the first arrests.

“This was a peaceful demonstration in which no property was damaged nor any person injured,” Gaal said in a statement. “Because this situation did not pose a significant threat to public safety, it does not warrant the expenditure of scarce resources that would result from a criminal prosecution.”

He said the University has its own internal procedure for dealing with possible violations of the student conduct code.

“Consequently, no criminal charges will be filed against the individuals booked into the Monroe County Jail,” the prosecutor said.

— Jake New