MINNEAPOLIS — One person arrested in Monday's pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Minnesota (U of M) is now charged with assault for reportedly spitting on a responding police officer.
Court documents filed Thursday document the allegations against a 23-year-old from Minneapolis, which amount to fourth-degree assault.
Prosecutors say the defendant was among a group of demonstrators who barricaded themselves inside Morrill Hall on the U of M Campus Monday afternoon and refused to leave, barricading doors with furniture, bicycle U locks and other improvised barriers.
Arriving officers learned that a number of university employees were trapped inside the building. They announced to the protestors that they were under arrest and began moving them to benches on the ground floor of Morrill Hall to identify and photograph them.
The 23-year-old was identified as one of the protestors and officers asked them to stand up for processing. When asked for their name, the defendant reportedly became upset and called the officers Nazis. Witnesses say the defendant then turned to face one of the police officers and spit bodily fluid at him, landing on his uniform.
The criminal complaint alleged the behavior was witnessed by at least three officers and captured on body cam video.
Minnesota statutes on fourth-degree assault call for a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $6,000 fine.
