Denver SDS courthouse rally demands drop the charges against Auraria Gaza encampment protesters

Denver, CO – On Monday, July 29, the Protest Defense Committee and Denver Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) gathered students and community members outside of the Lindsey-Flanigan courthouse to oppose the ongoing repression resulting from the Auraria Encampment for Palestine.

Rallying in the early morning, before a number of court appearances for people with citations and arrests related to the encampment, the group gathered calling for all charges to be dropped. In total, 80 cases have been filed as a result of the encampment.

The defense committee is focused on its campaign to see the charges dropped. Other demands include reversing academic disciplinary charges on students, reinstating Denver SDS’ student organization status, and ending attacks on faculty who stood with students. The Denver SDS defense committee also helps with supporting the community through the isolating legal process they are facing.

Khalid Hamu, a member of SDS, led the rally and spoke on the strength of the movement for Palestine and that the repression protesters face is nothing in comparison to the constant violence and destruction that Palestinians face every day.

Speaker Z Williams of the Protest Defense Committee, a radical legal and organizing group in Colorado, spoke on the necessity of respecting a diversity of tactics as people go through the legal process with varying charges and life factors. They reminded people that it is imperative to stand with the people as they decide how best to fight state repression in their lives. Williams was cited while acting as as a legal observer at an action during the encampment, an attack on the rights of protesters and legal support.

The final speaker, Lucia Feast of SDS, spoke to the importance of solidarity with others in the community facing the legal system without the support that the pro-Palestine protesters have received.

All of the speakers are facing charges, and all spoke to the necessity of continuing to organize for Palestine as a form of fighting state repression. They raised a banner reading “Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest.” calling attention to Denver SDS’ ongoing campaign for their universities to divest from Israel and end their complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

After the short rally, the attendees walked into the courthouse and watched the legal proceedings of their fellow protesters, many of whom have shown up multiple times a week to court dates since the Auraria encampment. A recent win came for this group as the first of the charges were dismissed a day before trial. Denver SDS is hopeful that the campaign will find more successes in the coming months.

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