UF kicks out arrested pro-Palestinian protesters for up to 4 years

GAINESVILLE – In secret hearings, the University of Florida has rejected recommendations to leniently punish some of the college students arrested after pro-Palestinian protests on campus, expelling all of them from the university for three to four years.

With his decisions, the new Dean of Students, Chris Summerlin, overruled the sentencing recommendations of the jury, the so-called hearing panels. As part of the disciplinary proceedings, the jury had listened to witness testimony and watched police videos of the protests and arrests.

The students were among nine people arrested by University Police and Florida State Police on April 29 during a demonstration in a plaza on the University of Florida campus. They were among the first college arrests in Florida and all are banned from university grounds.

In at least two cases, hearing panels recommended probation for Keely Nicole Gliwa, 23, of Gainesville – a master’s student who was scheduled to graduate on May 2 – and probation for Parker Stanely Hovis, 26, of Naples. The university withheld Gliwa’s diploma and suspended both Gliwa and Hovis for three years.

In other cases, the hearing panel recommended a one-year suspension for Tess Jaden Segal, 20, of Weston, and Allan Hektor Frasheri, 21, of Largo, but the UF suspended Segal for three years and Frasheri for four years.

The university suspended Roseanna Yashoda Bisram, 20, of Ocala for three years, the same length of time the hearing panel recommended. Augustino Matthias Pulliam, 20, a first-year theater student from Jacksonville, was also suspended for three years. A student at nearby Santa Fe College, Charly Pringle, 21, of Jacksonville, was suspended for three years as part of a separate disciplinary proceeding at her school.

The seven students said they had appealed against the reversal of their sentences, but that their appeals were still pending.

The suspensions mean that each of them must reapply for admission to UF. The only worse punishment would have been expulsion, which would have prevented them from ever returning.

Meanwhile, all nine people arrested at UF said they rejected dismissal agreements offered to them by the Alachua County District Attorney’s Office as part of a plea bargain. Under such agreements, a defendant would plead “no contest” or “guilty” and the charges would effectively be removed from his record if he did not commit any further crimes within a period of time, usually 12 months. None of the nine had any prior criminal record.

“We did not resist arrest and are prepared to fight the charges,” Hovis said in a statement. “We stand together in solidarity and demand that the state drop the charges against us.”

Their trials are expected to conclude over the summer. District Attorney Brian Kramer is a Republican who is running for re-election in November.

Of the nine, Ember Boerboom, 24, of Chesapeake, Virginia, was a former UF student, Pringle was a student at Santa Fe and Jinx Rooney, 23, of Valrico had no apparent connection to the university.

All were charged with resisting arrest without violence, except for Frasheri, whom prosecutors charged with assault on a police officer. Hovis is also charged with another misdemeanor, trespassing. Police said Hovis refused to say at the demonstration whether he was leaving, so he was arrested.

Under the university’s disciplinary rules, Summerlin was allowed to reject the recommendations of the hearing panels, which are typically made up of faculty members. Summerlin, who started his job at UF in April, the same month the arrests occurred, declined through a spokesman Tuesday to say why he imposed harsher punishments than recommended in nearly every case.

The results of the disciplinary hearings, which took place in May and June, were described in a news release distributed by students on Tuesday. The confidentiality of the school’s disciplinary proceedings is protected by federal law, and only the students involved can legally disclose what happened behind closed doors. Two of the UF students, including Segal, are Jewish, they said.

“I stand in solidarity with the Palestinians, not despite my Judaism, but because of it,” she said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a recently released video by law enforcement appears to capture the moment one of their own was accused, in the most serious case, of spitting on a police officer.

Prosecutors accuse Frasheri of spitting on the right arm of university police officer Kristy Sasser as she helped an officer walk away with another arrested protester. Sasser, who also testified in at least one university disciplinary hearing, said in court documents that Frasheri “came up to us and spit on me. His saliva landed on my right arm. I broke away from the escort and arrested Frasheri for assault.”

In a video of the arrests, obtained by the Highway Patrol under Florida’s public records law, Frasheri can be seen waving a water bottle while wearing a medical mask up to his chin, joining the crowd in shouting “shame” at the officers arresting their colleagues.

As Sasser walked by, Frasheri’s upper body, holding a water bottle, appeared to snap sharply toward her. Sasser turned and seconds later appeared behind Frasheri to arrest him. Frasheri is expected to appear at an upcoming court hearing on July 24 to give an update on his case.

UF President Ben Sasse praised the police during a press conference in May: “What you did, despite being spat at and insulted, is unbelievable,” Sasse said.

The university has so far declined to release additional police videos showing the arrests, despite a reporter requesting copies under state law on April 30 — 70 days ago. The university also has not released requested copies of communications between its general counsel, Sasse, and police departments.

One of the government’s expected witnesses in the upcoming criminal trials against the defendants is identified in court records as Aaron Michael Sarner, 24, of Hollywood, Florida, a UF law student who is listed as vice president of the group Students Supporting Israel. Sarner did not respond to phone calls or messages for several days asking about his role in the cases.

This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at [email protected]. Donate to support our students here.