The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office announced the results of an investigation into the arrest of a dozen students at Stanford during last summer's protests against the violence in Gaza. 

On Thursday, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen charged all 12 people, including eight current Stanford students, with felony charges of vandalism and conspiracy to trespass. 

Rosen said the defendants broke into university President Richard Saller's office at 5:30 a.m. on June 5, 2024, using hammers and crowbars. The group then formed a barricade with office furniture before spraying the room with fake blood. They occupied the office for almost three hours, trashing furniture and ultimately causing $700,000 worth of damage.

Rosen said they even brought a manual on how to occupy a building.   

"They had operational plans, they had lookouts," Rosen said. "They were scouting out the area to see what time either uniformed police officers or private security would be around. They took great pains to bring all the equipment with them to break into the building to barricade it."

The protesters said they refused to leave Saller's office until the Stanford administration and the Stanford Board of Trustees take action to address "their role in enabling and profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza."

The protestors, ages 19 to 32, now face up to three years in prison. Four have already surrendered to the district attorney's office.

"The rule of law includes all of our colleges and universities because these institutions are not accountability-free zones and are not above or beyond the reach of the California Penal Code," Rosen said. 

Zahara Billoo, the executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in San Francisco, condemned the charges.

"This could have and should have been handled through the university disciplinary process," Billoo said. "Why are we wasting resources in this way, and why are we unable to distinguish ourselves from the federal government, which is working so hard to criminalize protests right now?"

The Trump administration has recently revoked visas from hundreds of international students on campuses across the country, including Stanford. While it hasn't given an official reason for most cases, free speech advocates fear it's part of the effort to crack down on pro-Palestinian activism. 

Rosen said all of the students charged with vandalism are U.S. citizens. 

But Billoo said this sends a frightening message to pro-Palestinian students.

"They must now ask themselves, how violent will law enforcement be with us if we choose to protest, and what will be the lifelong consequences again, of peaceful protest, a long celebrated tradition," Billoo said.

Though the protestors do face jail time, Rosen said he doesn't want that to be outcome of this case. He's hoping for community service instead. 

A Stanford spokesperson said the protesters "unlawfully" entered Building 10, which houses the offices of the president and provost. As of 8:37 a.m., spokesperson Dee Mostofi said in an emailed statement that the offices had been cleared and 13 people were arrested.

Mostofi said the university's internal disciplinary proceedings issued sanctions against the students that include "two-quarter suspensions followed by probation, delayed degree conferrals, and community service hours."

Last month, the DA's office decided not to charge a student journalist who was arrested.