Editor’s note: Two of those arrested use names that differ from those on the legal documents shared. In order to follow journalistic ethical standards while also providing accurate news, the Daily News will be using the preferred names of those arrested, which do not align with legal documents.
UPDATE, Mar. 12:
A preliminary hearing for the five cases will be held April 23 at 1:00 p.m. Judge Amanda Dunnuck in the Muncie City Courts will hear the cases. According to the progress of the cases found online on the Indiana Public Courts website, Louis Wade Denney and Eric Michael Hoffman are listed as those representing the state.
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Greg Fallon, associate vice president of university communications and digital strategy, confirmed the arrests and said via email Feb. 28 that approximately 30 people “exercised their right to protest peacefully and in accordance with university policies concerning the conduct of a public board meeting.”
“… Five of those individuals, four students and one other person, loudly disrupted the meeting by yelling. They were warned to stop by the board chair, and they persisted in disrupting the meeting. Because they did not stop, University Police removed those five people and arrested them for disorderly conduct,” Fallon said.
Joseph Souza, Cooper Archer, Kiwani Bassett, Jaina Dodds and Zoe-Rose Dieguez were the five arrested for disorderly conduct. Dieguez was the only one arrested who was not a Ball State student.
Those arrested, who were coined “The Ball State Five” by their peers on social media, said they attended the meeting for a number of issues, including concerns of alleged connections of Ball State and its donors funding the war in Gaza, alleged concerns of redlining and inequitable housing in the surrounding campus area, an alleged lack of transparency from trustees, and concerns about Vice Chair Brian Gallagher, who was the past CEO of United Way Worldwide. United Way Worldwide is currently being sued following allegations that Gallagher fired multiple women after they came forward about experiencing sexual misconduct.
All five arrested were charged March 7 with two counts of disorderly conduct each — one for disorderly conduct and one for disorderly conduct with “unreasonable noise,” according to charge documents sent to the Ball State Daily News via email.
Dieguez, an alumnus of the university, was issued a letter stating their name, picture, and description were being kept in UPD records and, as the letter reads, if they are “found on any university property, [they] will be subject to arrest.”
According to the charge documents, UPD Corporal Cody Schnurr was dispatched to 2011 W. University Ave, the student center, around 1 p.m. about “subjects causing trouble at the trustee meeting.”
Upon his arrival, Schnurr was “advised by UPD Chief Foster and Chief Bell that there were protesters at the trustee meeting. They were allowed to be there but not interrupt the meeting.”
The charge documents stated that those charged were making “unreasonable noise, disrupting an assembly of people and continued to do so after being asked to stop.”
The charge documents also stated that the protesters were then arrested for disorderly conduct.
Disorderly conduct — a Class B misdemeanor as it has been charged to the five — is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Under Indiana Code IC-35-45-1-3, disorderly conduct at the level or be charged of a misdemeanor includes: “A person who recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally: engages in fighting or in tumultuous conduct; makes unreasonable noise and continues to do so after being asked to stop; or disrupts a lawful assembly of persons.”
In videos and witness statements collected by the Ball State Daily News, a warning was given to protesters who began to speak out during the meeting by a chairperson at the trustees meeting.
“It's really shitty that the administration went straight from us disrupting and instead of asking us to leave like normal, they arrest us,” Diequez said upon their release from the jail. “… They could have taken us out of the building, talked to us or put us in detention at the police station that they have a couple of blocks away. But instead, they took us, booked us all and took us all to the county jail, which I think is kind of ridiculous.”
Archer, who was one of the first to be arrested, said he felt the arrests were “insulting.”
“It’s kind of eye-opening; it's pretty insulting,” Archer said. “I just wanted to ask some questions, get some answers because everything else we’ve tried has been no answers or just denial and that kind of shows where they are aligned. They’re just really trying to protect themselves.”
Archer, as shown in a video published by the Daily News, was removed after speaking during the meeting and had his phone taken during the arrest, which he said he was using to read a statement during his protest.
Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman said in the charge documents that he is “an ardent believer in the freedoms and rights embodied in the First Amendment. However, as our courts have ruled, those freedoms and rights are not absolute. A person does not have a right to disrupt a lawful assembly of persons. Law and order will be upheld.”
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UPDATE, Mar. 7: Protesters from the Feb. 28 Board of Trustees meeting have been formally charged with two counts of disorderly conduct each.
Charges are currently pending in the Muncie City Court, where Judge Amanda Dunnuck will set the case for an initial hearing. Disorderly conduct is a Class B Misdemeanor in the state of Indiana and is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Prosecutor Hoffman said in a press release, “I am an ardent believer in the freedoms and rights embodied in the First Amendment. However, as our courts have ruled, those freedoms and rights are not absolute. A person does not have a right to disrupt an awful assembly of persons. Law and order will be upheld.”
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Five students were detained by University Police (UPD) for "disorderly conduct" during the Feb. 28 Board of Trustees meeting in Cardinal Hall A, at the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, according to Greg Fallon, associate vice president of university communications and digital strategy via email.
Outside of the room, a sign detailed public attendees expectations, including a bullet point asking to "not disrupt the meeting of the Board of Trustees."
Fallon said via email, "approximately 30 people exercised their right to protest peacefully and in accordance with University policies concerning the conduct of a public board meeting.
"...Five of those individuals, four students and one other person, loudly disrupted the meeting by yelling. They were warned to stop by the Board chair, and they persisted in disrupting the meeting. Because they did not stop, University Police removed those five people and arrested them for disorderly conduct."
This story will be updated with more information when available.
Contact the Ball State Daily News via email at editor@bsudailynews.com.
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