Palestine

A University of Florida senior accused of spitting on a campus police officer while his classmates were being arrested during pro-Palestinian protests accepted a plea deal Wednesday that avoids any time behind bars.

“We can best support the free exchange of ideas by maintaining civility and treating each other with respect,” Law said in an email to the USF community.

All the students remain suspended from enrolling at UF and banned from campus for three years.

Two University of Florida students arrested earlier this year during pro-Palestinian protests on campus have accepted plea deals to misdemeanor criminal charges and will pay a small fine with no jail time.

Saying it opposes “any form of academic censorship,” the United Faculty of Florida on Monday objected to a directive issued this month by university system Chancellor Ray Rodrigues about reviewing textbooks and other materials for “antisemitic material” or “anti-Israeli” bias.

In a letter to students, faculty and staff, USF President Rhea Law said the university "wlll not allow violent, disruptive or aggressive acts" on campus.

USF is among the universities instituting new rules, including banning encampments andlimiting the duration of demonstrations.

Proposed amendments from the university would present limitations to student-organized events like protests and fundraisers.

The group is known as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE. It’s headquartered in Philadelphia and was founded in 1999 with the aim of protecting free speech within higher education.

Before her hoax was uncovered, they shared copies of fraudulent emails and an AI-generated voicemail she said came from the Gainesville school's administrator.

The students were among nine people who university police and state troopers arrested April 29 on a plaza on the University of Florida campus. They were among the first college arrests in Florida.

Legal proceedings continued Wednesday for two of the nine pro-Palestine protesters who were arrested on the University of Florida campus in April.