Correction: The charges filed against the defendants were incorrect in an earlier version of this story. They have been corrected in this version.
BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Pro-Palestinian Stanford students and their allies packed the Palo Alto Courthouse on Thursday to support 12 protesters who were arrested for allegedly breaking into the Stanford president’s offices and spilling fake blood throughout the building — “a calculated plan of destruction,” according to prosecutors.
Supporters waited in a hall outside the courtroom for 45 minutes before attorneys came out and pulled defendants aside to discuss the case.
Inside the courtroom, the protesters agreed through their attorneys to return to court on Aug. 1 to plead guilty or innocent.
Probation officers evaluated three of the younger protesters to see if they could do a diversion program for young adults, which allows defendants to do community service rather than serve a criminal sentence. Amy Zhai, 20, of Thousand Oaks, and Zoe Georgia Edelman, 23, of Washington, D.C., are currently ineligible because they live outside California, Judge Vincent Chiarello said. German Rafael Gonzalez, 20, of Stanford, is ineligible because he didn’t get back to probation officers, Chiarello said.
Outside the building, about a dozen Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies circled the parking lot and stood near the entrance. They brought an inmate transport bus and a smaller inmate transport vehicle.
Retired San Jose resident Len Tsou said he came to the hearing because he was impressed with the students’ activism. Similar protests at colleges in the 1960s led to the end of the Vietnam war, Tsou said.
Student Feiya Lee said he’s been frustrated by Stanford’s “refusal to prioritize students.”
Fake blood
Palestinian students have lost family members to the war in Gaza, yet Stanford administrators haven’t denounced Israel’s actions, Lee said.
“They’re so much more upset about the fake blood than the real blood,” Lee said.
The only protester who wasn’t at the hearing was Thomas Richardson, 19, of Menlo Park. His next court date is on July 29.
Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker is prosecuting the protesters, who are charged with committing over $400 in vandalism, which is a felony, and with conspiracy to commit trespass.
Stanford estimated the damage cost between $360,000 and $1 million, and the building was closed for two months, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said at a press conference on April 10. One Stanford employee had a photo of her deceased mother and kids destroyed by fake blood, Rosen said.
The day of …
The protest started around 5:30 a.m. on June 5, 2024 — the last day of classes for Stanford’s spring quarter. Anti-Israel messages were spray-painted on the inside and outside of the building, photos show. Police broke into the office at about 7:15 a.m. and arrested the protesters.
Students who participated in the protest were immediately suspended, and any seniors weren’t allowed to graduate, the university said at the time.
In response, Stanford also took down a student encampment of Palestinian supporters.
‘Highly organized’
The protesters were “highly organized” and followed a “do-it-yourself occupation guide,” Rosen said. They brought food, a ladder, plywood, crowbars, hammers and other tools for breaking in, Rosen said.
The protesters used encrypted messaging apps like Signal to plan the occupation days in advance, and then deleted the apps as police entered the building, Rosen said.
DA Investigator Ben Holt was able to get around the encryption to see how protesters planned their movements, organized look-outs and scouted the location days in advance.
Once inside, protesters covered interior surveillance cameras and barricaded doors using ladders and furniture, Holt said.
Protesters wore masks and multiple layers of clothing so they could change and avoid detection, Holt said.
“Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal,” Rosen said in a statement announcing the charges. “There is a bright line between making a point and committing a crime. These defendants crossed the line into criminality when they broke into these offices, barricaded themselves inside and started a calculated plan of destruction.”
Those arrested were:
• Eliana Lindsay Fuchs, 24, of San Mateo;
• Isabella Terrazas, 22, of Houston;
• Hunter Armstrong Taylor-Black, 24, of Chestnut Hill, Pa.;
• Taylor Oh McCann, 32, of Oakland;
• Gretchen Rose Guimarin, 22, of Rancho Cordova;
• John Thomas Richardson, 19, of Menlo Park;
• Kaiden Wang, 22, of Elk Grove;
• German Rafael Gonzalez, 20, of Stanford;
• Cameron Michael Pennington, 22, of Stanford;
• Zoe Georgia Edelman, 23, of Washington, D.C.;
• Maya Nell Murungi Burke, 28, of Frankfort, Ky.; and,
• Amy Jing Zhai, 20, of Thousand Oaks.
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