Green Party Candidate Jill Stein Faces Protest Charges

Prosecutors in St. Louis have formally charged former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and one other demonstrator for their actions during a pro-Palestinian protest at Washington University last spring, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Stein was charged Friday with first-degree trespass and fourth-degree assault; she has been accused of kicking a police officer and hitting him with a bicycle during a protest last April that resulted in the arrest of more than 100 people, most of them outsiders.

According to court documents, Wash U police ordered the demonstrators to disperse, but they refused. When officers moved in to make arrests, Stein linked arms with other protesters. An officer was injured tussling with her over a bicycle.

“I want to make it clear that these misdemeanor criminal charges are not a statement about the freedoms of speech or assembly, which we honor and uphold as part of our Constitution,” prosecuting attorney Price Smith said in a statement obtained by KSDK. “They are not a statement about the subject of the protest, which was the situation in Gaza. These charges merely reflect our professional judgment that we have the evidence to prove these particular criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Following her arrest last spring, Stein said she was the one assaulted.

“I got separated from the rest of the crowd, you know, and actually initially felt like there was a lot of safety in numbers,” she told KSDK. “Then, it turned out I was being charged with assault after being assaulted by an officer on a bicycle and basically thrown onto my head.”

Stein is scheduled to appear in court on May 19.