An Arizona State University theater major broke down in tears to a local reporter after learning she will not be able to graduate following arrest for refusing to leave the anti-Israel encampment on school grounds.
Breanna Brocker, 21, was arrested on April 27 for unlawful encampment as a form of protest along with 20 other students and “dozens” of others who were not students or faculty:
Dozens of extremists were arrested at Arizona State @ASU on April 27 at the illegal encampment for Gaza. Administrators say most were not students nor faculty.
Ian Sherwood
Hady Aziz
Josef Britton
Fahim Saadat pic.twitter.com/SBeAIaC4jN— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 28, 2024
All 20 arrested students were suspended from school and subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents in the Arizona District Court for an injunction to reverse it because of supposed free speech infringements, the Arizona Daily Independent reported.
Due to the suspension, Brocker and other students will miss their final exams and will not graduate.
Their lawsuit was tossed out this week, prompting Brocker to break down in tears in a post-court interview with ABC15 that has since gone viral:
WATCH: We spoke with ASU senior Breanna Brocker outside the courthouse, who said she will not be able to graduate because the suspension will cause her to miss her final exam pic.twitter.com/FKGaMuzOt7
— Ben Brown (@bdbrown473) May 4, 2024
“I’m being restricted from a lot of things right now that I didn’t expect to be for standing up for something that I believe in,” the senior said, in between tears.
“I have family coming in who I have to let them know to not come to my graduation ceremonies,” she told local reporter Ben Brown, before lamenting the fact that she could not walk at her 2020 high school graduation either — presumably due to coronavirus restrictions.
“I’m a 2020 high school grad, so I wasn’t able to walk then, so you know, I’m not able to walk now,” Brocker complained.
When asked if she would have protested if she knew the consequences, Brocker responded that she would do it again, “even if it means something negative to me.”
ASU officials defended their decision to have demonstrators arrested due to the encampment becoming “more than a protest.”
“There were multiple violations of university or ABOR policy including tents, overnight presence, creating a university disturbance and being in a reservable space that wasn’t reserved by ASU students, per policy,” the school said in an online statement viewed by the Blaze, which has since been removed from their public webpage:
“The unlawful assembly remained well past the 11 p.m. cutoff time established by policy,” officials continued before asserting that the protest participants were warned before being arrested:
ASU’s first priority is to create a safe and secure environment for all those on campus. This includes addressing the safety of individuals who come to campus to speak, listen, protest and counter-protest. After all-day discussions about the need to remove the encampment, protestors – most of whom were not students — were told at least 20 times over loudspeakers that the encampment was an unlawful assembly and they had to disperse or face arrest. People were also warned throughout the day of the potential legal, student conduct code and academic consequences.
Videos from the encampment prior to its removal show hundreds of protesters and dozens of tents refusing to leave the campus:
ASU’s Tempe campus saw pro-Palestinian protests this weekend, with dozens arrested after a 250-person encampment was disbanded. These protests reflect a broader movement across U.S. college campuses. 📢✊
Register to vote via the link in bio! 📹 @az_resist pic.twitter.com/P7z8k6xHAr
— CORAZÓN (@CORAZONArizona) May 2, 2024
