EMORY ARRESTEES: ONE YEAR, NO JUSTICE
Community Demands Solicitor-General Drop Charges, Emory Be Held Accountable
ATLANTA, GA — Friday, April 25th, 2025 will mark one year since the crackdown on Emory’s campus that led to the arrest of 28.
To commemorate the occasion, a Week of Action has commenced with events daily this week. You are invited to two events on Friday, April 25th, 2025.
1. Press Conference at 9am outside DeKalb County Courthouse. Confirmed speaker list and quotes available near the end of this document.
2. Student-led Remembrance event on Emory’s quad at noon.
Background
According to a transcript released from a Emory University Senate meeting on May 1st, 2024, Emory PD made an assessment that the demonstration on the morning of April 25th, 2024 was made up of non-university forces based on the set-up being “pre-planned and well organized” (transcript, page 3). President Fenves’ own low assessment of the Emory student body resulted in him making “the decision to not allow the encampment” (transcript, page 3). The fact is that this was not true. At least 20 of the 28 arrested were Emory alumni, students, or staff (source 1 and 2).
The events that followed resulted in dozens of arrests, physical injuries, and yet-unknown long-term consequences to academic and professional careers. Some of the specific consequences faced by arrestees known so far include:
- Long-term neck and back damage, described as “like whiplash” by an arrestee’s spine doctor.
- Graduate student placement being rescinded to a med-school-bound undergrad, only to be reoffered after professors stepped in to advocate for an arrestee.
- Housing situation becoming untenable after an arrestee’s roommate’s police affiliations created a hostile environment post-arrest.
- An unusual number of the employed arrestees being terminated for unspecified reasons in the weeks and months following being charged.
Beyond consequences to arrestees, the police shot pepper-ball chemical agents into the crowd, creating fear and panic and injuring an unknown number of students and supporters. (More on pepper balls here.)
All of these people were harmed based on actions set into motion based on the EPD’s shoddy information-gathering and President Fenves’ poor decision-making. These errors were compounded by the cruel enforcement methods of the Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Patrol, as well as the inhumane conditions at DeKalb County Jail.
As a community, we demand accountability for the wrongdoing and negligence perpetrated at every level–from the campus and its leadership to law enforcement, from the jail and sheriff’s office to the courts.
Current Status of Charges
As of April 22nd, 2025, an informal poll of Emory arrestees has turned up 18 responses. Of the 18 responses, seven arrestees have had their charges dismissed fully without going through a diversion program, six arrestees have not heard anything from the court system about their case since being arrested, three arrestees have completed a diversion program that resulted in their case being closed, and two arrestees are currently going through a diversion process.
Diversion processes have included fees, community service, and a “peacemaking course.” Why arrestees would need to go through a peacemaking course when they had violence inflicted upon them is laughable at best.
We call on Solicitor-General Donna Coleman-Stribling to drop the charges on all remaining Emory-affiliated cases now. One day is too long to live with unjust charges. One year is unconscionable.
Solidarity with Palestine and the Stop Cop City Movement
The demonstration on April 25th, 2024 was intended to show solidarity with both Palestine and the Stop Cop City Movement, and that intention has not changed in the last year, despite the arrests.
While a few arrestees were not affiliated with the demonstration at all and were simply passersby, most arrestees have continued to affirm Palestine’s right under international law to fight back against Israeli occupation and mass murder. Emory’s complicity in the Israeli occupation should not be swept under the rug, and, undoubtedly, students and community will continue to push for the disclosure of Israeli ties and the divestment from the US/Israeli war machine.
Similarly, the Stop Cop City Movement has come under attack in innumerable ways, including being targeted with politically-motivated arrests. Emory arrestees have faced the same. It’s unthinkable that if people had gathered on the quad in celebration of a sports team win that there would have been the same police and university response, even if the crowd was of a similar size or larger. Additionally, Emory arrestees were repeatedly told while in DeKalb County Jail that they would be treated similarly to the Stop Cop City Movement–facing RICO, domestic terrorism, or anti-semitic hate crime charges. This uneven response and use of scare tactics underscore the importance of affirming solidarity between movements for liberation and the people’s right to gather and demonstrate.
Press Conference
Emory arrestees and allied community organizations are coming together to unite around key demands: drop the charges on the Emory arrestees, hold Emory accountable, and stop targeting student activists.
Community organizations will speak in solidarity with April 25th, 2024 arrestees. They will also speak to Emory’s Title VI violations and other issues relevant to Emory and the student movement for Palestinian liberation.
The press conference will include confirmed arrestee and solidarity statements from the individuals and organizations below with a Q&A session to follow. Short quotes available for immediate publication are furnished below.
Press Conference Line-Up
Press Conference Host
David Jones, Organizer with Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and attendee at the April 25th, 2024 Emory demonstration
“The violence we saw at the hands of APD, GSP, and several other law enforcement agencies was nothing short of a police riot. Officers violently attacking students, faculty, and community members for demanding the university divest from the ongoing genocide in Palestine. One year later and those arrested have not gotten the justice they deserve, nor has Emory taken accountability for their role in this. We are demanding that the charges be dropped on all arrestees. We are demanding accountability from all forces who allowed this act of police terror to happen. The Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression stands in complete solidarity with those affected by this and will continue to fight until justice is served and Palestine is free.”
Emory Arrestee statements, including
- Emil Keme’, Emory arrestee and Emory Professor
- David Meer, Emory arrestee and Jewish PhD candidate in Physics at Emory
- “On April 25th, Emory University, under the direction of President Gregory Fenves, attacked a protest I was part of. They attacked with pepper bullets, gas, nerve-damaging hand ties, physical assault, tasers, and more. They attacked us because Fenves disagreed with our message: that the liberation of Palestine is one of the most important issues of our generation, and that Emory needs to sever ties with and divest from the authoritarian, conservative state of Israel.”
- Erica Kadel, Emory arrestee and Member of Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
- “There is no taking back what happened to us. A police officer knelt on my neck until other arrestees chanted loud enough to make him stop. If any other man had knelt on my neck, no one would bat an eye at me bringing him to justice for attempted murder. This man and his colleagues who allowed this behavior are a danger to society, and I want to see them held accountable.”
- Alex Carson, Emory arrestee, Member of Teamster Local 728, Member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Member of Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
- “Community members have the right to support students in peaceful protest, especially when it is in opposition to genocide. The physical abuse employed by law enforcement against students and community members like myself was horrifying and brings immense shame upon the Emory administration. Officers and administration should be held accountable so something like this isn’t repeated at Emory.”
- Anonymous, Emory arrestee and current Emory undergraduate student
- “The intent of the brutal arrests on 4/24/25 was to create a chilling effect on student activism. One year later, we can see that in this goal, Brian Kemp, Andre Dickens, and the racist cops in the GSP have utterly failed in their goal. The student struggle continues because we recognize that what happened to us that day pales in comparison to the everyday atrocities committed upon the Palestinians. No amount of repression will distract the people from that reality.”
Solidarity statements, including
- Kessie Olekanma, Organizer with Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Graduate of Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health
- “What are students supposed to do when we exercise our right to speak out against our school using our tuition dollars to invest in weapons manufacturing that are set on bombing children and families overseas? The protests on campus remained peaceful. It was the police who showed up eager and excited as hell to use military training on defenseless people. Police were everywhere, yet justice was nowhere. Shame on Atlanta Police Department and Georgia State Patrol for remaining complicit in state repression. Shame on Emory for remaining complicit in genocide.”
- Azka Mahmood, Executive Director of CAIR-GA (Council on American-Islamic Relations Georgia)
- "Over the last 18 months, CAIR-Georgia has received a multitude of reports of harassment and bias against anti-war students that is rampant at Emory University. CAIR-Georgia and Palestine Legal's Title VI civil rights complaint was only the first step in holding Emory University accountable. As a result of our civil rights complaint, the OCR highlighted Emory's “gratuitous violence of the law enforcement activity" on Emory's campus last April, and held Emory to be "a hostile environment for Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim university members and those perceived to have associated with them.” As part of Emory's obligation to the OCR, it has committed to changing several of its policies so as not to lose federal funding. Why, then, does Emory not drop the charges against the arrestees of April 2024? We call on Emory to do the right thing and drop all charges against all arrestees."
- Devin Franklin, Senior Movement Policy Counsel with Southern Center for Human Rights
- “The legacy of protest and dissent, particularly in Atlanta, is foundational to the fiber of the identity of this country. And students have long been the first to force the conversations that challenge our collective values and initiate much-needed change for the better. Even when difficult or uncomfortable to hear, we must all continue to protect the ability of future leaders who are telling us what they want to see in the world they will eventually inherit.”
- Rev. Keyanna Jones, Member of Atlanta Multifaith Coalition for Palestine, Co-Pastor at Park Avenue Baptist Church, and attendee at the April 25th, 2024 Emory demonstration
- “Last year, I was the only faith leader who stood with Emory students as they demanded Emory disclose and divest their investments armin Israel. I witnessed first hand the unwarranted brutality inflicted on students for simply calling for an end to the genocide in Palestine. Without provocation, Emory called the Atlanta PD and Georgia State Patrol on their own students and faculty, and unspeakable violence was inflicted upon them.”
- Shabnam Bashiri, Community Organizer with American Friends Service Committee
- “As a representative of the American Friends Service Committee, I unequivocally condemn the violent repression of Emory students who bravely spoke out against the ongoing genocide in Palestine. This criminalization of peaceful protest is part of a disturbing national trend targeting student activism. We stand in unwavering solidarity with these courageous students and demand immediate accountability.”
- Kamau Franklin, Director of Community Movement Builders
- “Emory is responsible for being complicit in an ongoing genocide and in targeting their students who stood up against the US/Israeli mass killing of Palestinians. A year later, Emory has not taken responsibility for either, and we must continually remind the world of this fact.”
- Marcone Cangussu, Former US Air Force Staff Sergeant and Member of Veterans for Peace Chapter 125
- “Veterans For Peace members are sickened by the carnage in Gaza and the violence being directed at our students across our nation. The former and current administrations are violating long-standing U.S. laws meant to insure we abide by international treaties enacted to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. We believe it is our duty and responsibility to do all that is humanly possible to stop it.”
- Brian Ramirez, Co-Chair of Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America
- “In a moment when protest is being criminalized and solidarity with Palestine is under relentless attack, we stand proudly with the students who faced violence and repression at Emory. Atlanta DSA is committed to protecting our right to dissent and building a movement that won’t be silenced by intimidation or authoritarianism.”
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The Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (Atlanta Alliance) is the local branch of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR). NAARPR was founded in the 70s to free Angela Davis and other Black Panthers wrongfully imprisoned. Since then, NAARPR chapters around the country have fought for liberation through campaigns against police crimes and mass incarceration. NAARPR has expressed complete solidarity with Palestinian resistance to genocide and colonization.