A judge in Washington who reportedly liked a "Free Palestine" post on social media issued a ruling this week in a case involving several pro-Palestinian protesters.
On Wednesday, KOMO News in Seattle, Washington, reported that six defendants previously charged for a pro-Palestinian rally that forced the Interstate 5 in the city to shutdown, appeared in court for a hearing.
In recent weeks, tensions across college campuses in the U.S. have remained high over the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.
Many protests have taken place across the nation since October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that left 1,200 people dead and saw over 200 more taken hostage. More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the war began, The Associated Press reported, citing local health officials.
The Kings County Prosecutor's Office charged five defendants with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct for the protest that took place in January. The sixth defendant was only charged with disorderly conduct, KOMO News reported.
During the hearing on Wednesday, attorneys for the defendants argued that prosecutors used social media posts and other digital evidence and "lumped everyone together," while identifying the defendants.
According to KOMO news, Judge Andrea Jarmon who was overseeing the hearing, ruled that there was no probable cause for the criminal trespass charges against three defendants, siding with defense attorneys. Judge Jarmon ruled in favor of the prosecution in keeping the disorderly conduct charges against the defendants.
Shortly after the ruling, radio host and editor of The Post Millennial Ari Hoffman shared a thread on X, formerly Twitter, showing that Judge Jarmon previously liked a social media post saying "Free Palestine" following the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas militants.
"Days after the Oct 7, the worst pogrom since the Holocaust, Exec Dua Abudiab appropriated renowned Holocaust author & survivor Elie Wiesel to support Hamas even though the IDF's offensive in Gaza hadn't begun. Judge Jarmon [liked] the post," Hoffman wrote.
Many other social media users claimed that Judge Jarmon dismissed the charges against the protesters, but a spokesperson for the Kings County Prosecutor's Office disputed these claims.
"The charges were not dropped or dismissed. The judge didn't find probable cause on some of the charges—meaning that they could not impose conditions on the charges where probable cause was not found, but could on the other charges where probable cause was found. All of the charges still stand," the spokesperson told Newsweek.
X user End Wokeness wrote, "This is Judge Andrea Jarmon in Seattle. She just dismissed ALL criminal trespass charges against half of the pro-Palestine activists who blocked the I-5 for 4 hours. Jarmon sided with the defense attorneys, suggesting it was wrong of state patrol to recognize the suspects from social media. The blockade was on January 6th, 2024."
Newsweek reached out to the Washington State Bar via email for comment.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
