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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