Charges dropped against journalists

Students arrested covering protests

criminal trespassing charges have been dropped against two student journalists at Dartmouth college who were arrested while covering a pro-palestinian protest on the school’s new hampshire campus this month, a spokesperson for the Ivy league school said thursday.

Alesandra “Dre” Gonzales and charlotte hampton, who work for the Dartmouth, an independent student publication, were among nearly 90 students, faculty, staff, and community members arrested in a chaotic scene on the night of May 1.

Gonzales, 19, a freshman originally from Uvalde, texas, and hampton, 20, a sophomore from new York city, said in separate telephone interviews thursday evening that they are relieved to have the charges dropped and more determined than ever to pursue journalism careers.

“If anything, being arrested has made me more passionate about journalism and more excited to get deeper into the field and grow a career,” said Gonzales, a news reporter, photographer, and videographer.

hampton, a news reporter and managing editor, said she believes “free speech is a fragile thing,” and her arrest underscores that “we need people who are watching and taking notes if we want to uphold freedom and democracy.”

the arrests gained national attention, with Gonzales and hampton appearing on cnn. first Amendment organizations and coalitions advocating for a free press wrote to the college’s president condemning the arrests during “legitimate newsgathering” and demanding that the charges be dropped.

“Dartmouth learned yesterday that the state will no longer be prosecuting the Dartmouth journalists,” Jana barnello, Dartmouth’s spokesperson, said via email thursday.

hampton and Gonzales had permission to cover the protest, wore press credentials, and were accompanied by a member of the college’s communications team when they were swept up and arrested in a fast-paced scramble on the Green, Gonzales said.