Protests erupted across the country this Tuesday, October 11, in the wake of a guilty verdict in the case of the Irvine Eleven. On September 23, a California jury found 10 of the eleven Muslim students guilty of disrupting the Israeli ambassador’s university speech about U.S.-Israel relations. The Orange County jury declared 10 of the 11 University of California, Irvine students guilty of two misdemeanors each: conspiring to disrupt a meeting and disruption of a meeting. Charges against the eleventh student were dismissed before trial. The defendants were given three years of informal probation (!), plus 56 hours of community service. The judge also ordered them to pay $270 in fines.

Six defense attorneys argued that the students, seven from UC Irvine and three from UC Riverside, were only following the norm of other college protests and were being singled out because they are Muslim and Arab and the speaker was Israeli.

The verdict and the sentences, which appear racially biased and politically motivated, undermine free speech on college campuses. I hope many join ongoing protests and let others know about this Islamaphobic judicial action.

Here is the call for support for today’s protest:

“We urge all students, community activists, and supporters to join in on the 10/11 Solidarity Day with the Irvine 11. Campuses across the state have started planning and we encourage you to organize a demonstration in your city in solidarity with the Irvine 11. The plan:

• Organize a demonstration in a central location on campus or in your city
• Wear red shirts (could also have the words “silenced” imprinted on them)
• Place tape over your mouths to indicate the absence of free speech

It may well be that you organize graveyards on your campus to exhibit the death of free speech, or that you host a large-scale teach in. Whatever it is, we encourage you to organize! Plan something on your campus and in your city on 10/11. Let us know what you will be doing, and inform the media. Be sure to upload and send us articles, videos, and pictures of what you did!” from Irvineeleven.com

go to the Irvine Eleven website for more information

We wonder if the same group of UC Irvine students had interrupted a campus lecture on chemistry or biophysics, would the District Attorney’s Office have filed criminal charges? The case would have been an administrative matter to be resolved by campus officials. Dr. Craig Smith, director of the Center for First Amendment Studies, said, “If the defense can show that the UC Irvine rules can be applied in arbitrary and capricious ways, they might win the case on appeal,” he said.”…Irvineregister.com