A jury has deadlocked in the trial of five current and former Stanford University students charged following pro-Palestinian protests in 2024.
The students faced felony charges of vandalism and conspiracy to trespass after barricading themselves inside the offices of the university president and provost.
Prosecutors in Santa Clara County said demonstrators broke furniture and splattered red liquid, described as fake blood, across items in the offices. Defence lawyers maintained the protest was protected speech and that there was no intent to damage property.
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The trial, held in Silicon Valley, is seen as a rare instance of demonstrators facing felony charges from the wave of campus protests that year.
