A California judge has barred a Jewish district attorney from prosecuting a group of vandals who occupied the office of the president of Stanford University and spray-painted "death to Israel" on a wall at the university in 2024, the Jewish News of Northern California reported.
On June 4, 2024, anti-Israel protesters occupied the president's office and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Twelve protesters faced federal charges following the incident.
In his ruling, Judge Kelley Paul claimed that DA Jeff Rosen overstepped in calling the incident antisemitic when it was not charged as a hate crime.
“This case is not a hate crime," Paul said. “The characterization of the prosecution as a fight against antisemitism runs afoul of case law."
The decision removed Rosen from the case, which was transferred to the California Attorney General’s Office.
Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area and Jewish Silicon Valley condemned the judge's ruling and said in a joint statement: "We are deeply troubled by Judge Kelley Paul’s decision in People v. Gonzalez to disqualify District Attorney Jeff Rosen and his team from prosecuting the defendants allegedly responsible for the politically motivated destruction of the executive offices of the university president and provost at Stanford. Without issuing a written ruling, the court has set a disturbing precedent that appears to impose a different standard on Jewish public officials."
"This ruling has also validated the defense and their supporters' ongoing campaign to smear one of our state’s highest-ranking Jewish officials. This decision uniquely targets minority prosecutors, suggesting they are incapable of pursuing justice in cases perceived to be impacting their own communities. We must reject this double standard, which undermines the ability of all public servants to stand against hate without fear of professional disqualification," they said.
"Generations of American Jews in positions of public trust have all too often been treated as suspect or inherently conflicted. This decision risks reinforcing longstanding antisemitic prejudices and invites future defendants to weaponize a prosecutor’s identity against them, casting any public opposition to hate as grounds for disqualification. Allowing such a ruling to stand would weaken a vital safeguard for our justice system and we urge the Attorney General to appeal. The case against the defendants must proceed. Anything less would undermine the fundamental principles of equal justice and impartiality under the law," the Jewish organizations stated.