Ten UCI protestors facing charges for refusing to leave when ordered to by the police

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Ten protestors have been charged today for failing to disperse after University of California, Irvine police deemed a May 15, 2024, protest on the school’s campus to be an unlawful assembly and ordered the hundreds of protestors to leave. Orange County District Attorney prosecutors are reviewing evidence against the remaining 40 people who were arrested by police after dispersal orders were issued, according to the OCDA.

The first 10 defendants charged are:

• Michael Chang, 29, of Irvine Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot
• Jonathan Brook Haley, 51, of Oceanside Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot
• Tiffany Willoughby Herard, 50 of Irvine Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot, one misdemeanor count of PC 69 – resisting a peace officer with the threat of violence, and one misdemeanor count of PC 148 – resisting arrest
• Fantana Zadran, 39, of Irvine Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot
• Rami Anabtawi, 40, of Silverado Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot
• Miriam Castro, 27, of Irvine Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot
• Kevyn Garcia, 24, of Upland Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot
• Adel Shaker Hijazi, 40, of Irvine Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot
• Angie Belen Monreal, 27, of Garden Grove Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot and one misdemeanor count of PC 148 – resisting arrest
• Marah Quran, 20, of Irvine Charged with one misdemeanor count of PC 409 – failure to disperse at scene of riot

All ten defendants have been sent an arraignment letter with orders to appear at the Central Justice Center on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, to be arraigned on their respective charges. Today’s charged defendants include two UCI professors and four UCI students.

“The right to peaceful assembly is a constitutional right and we encourage protestors to exercise their right to peaceful assembly on any issue,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “However, criminal activity which transcends peaceful assembly will not be tolerated. As such, the Orange County District Attorney’s Special Prosecutions Unit has spent months reviewing evidence to determine what, if any, crimes were committed by protestors at UCI following the lawful dispersal order issued by UCI police. Accordingly, we have filed criminal charges against 10 individuals who failed to disperse from the May 15, 2024, protest and my prosecutors are continuing to review evidence against the remaining 40 arrestees.”