The Santa Clara County District Attorney has declined to formally charge Stanford University student journalist Dilan Gohill for covering on a pro-Palestinian protest last year, after he faced allegations of committing multiple felonies.
The student, who was reporting for the Stanford Daily, a student-run newspaper, was alongside a group of protesters who barricaded themselves in a school building, according to prosecutors. The DA’s Office said students broke furniture, spattered fake blood and covered a security camera during the demonstration.
“This Office supports a free press and recognizes that the law gives reporters latitude to do their jobs in keeping the public informed,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a release. “We have no evidence that this student did anything other than cover this event as a journalist.”
The reprieve for Gohill comes as President Donald Trump has demanded educational institutions crack down on protests, or lose funding.
Estimates suggest more than 60,000 Palestinians and more than 1,900 Israelis have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war.
Charges for other participants in the Stanford protest may be forthcoming, as the DA’s Office is still completing its review.
Last June 5, at 5:30am, protesters broke into the locked Building 10 at 450 Jane Stanford Way on the Stanford campus, where the president’s office is located. They barricaded themselves inside and began livestreaming and posting to social media, prosecutors said, adding the journalist was also present and reported at least one story.
The Stanford University Department of Public Safety responded to the scene and requested mutual aid from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and the Palo Alto Police Department, the DA’s office said. Officers arrived on scene, broke through the barricades and started arresting people.
On Oct. 10, the Stanford Daily published an editorial that read, “It has been 127 days since Daily reporter Dilan Gohill ’27 was arrested while reporting on a pro-Palestinian student group’s occupation of the president’s office. Despite attending in his capacity as a reporter, Dilan still faces three suspect charges from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office in addition to disciplinary proceedings from the University.”
Stanford University estimated repair costs rose above $700,000.
The Daily editors put things this way:
“We commend the student bodies for their support of Dilan, who was present at the June 5 demonstration solely in his capacity as a Daily reporter and bore and presented valid press identification at all times. Dilan did not participate in or plan the demonstration and had no prior knowledge of protesters’ plans to enter Building 10. He entered only to report the news and was unable to leave once barricaded inside by the 12 demonstrators who entered it first.”
Bill Grueskin, a former Wall Street Journal editor, cautioned Stanford about “entering into a situation where they’re prosecuting a journalist who is at the scene of a newsworthy event doing his job.”
