Felony charges were dropped against a Xavier University student and graduate who took part in an anti-Israel protest on campus — which threatened to put them behind bars for up to 18 months under an obscure law originally meant to target members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Julia Lankisch, a Xavier grad, and Sophia Dempsey, a current student, both 22, were arraigned Monday in Hamilton County for trespassing while dodging charges of conspiracy while wearing a disguise, a little-known law that dates back to 1953, Fox 19 reports.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost had threatened to bring felony charges against student demonstrators just days before Lankisch and Dempsey allegedly covered their faces while protesting the war in Gaza on campus Saturday morning as part of the XU Free Palestine group.
Yost warned the university that a violation of the “Prohibition Against Conspiracy While Wearing a Disguise Law” is a felony punishable by six to 18 months in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
“In the first place, students should protest within the bounds of the law and not commit crimes,” Yost wrote in a letter sent to Ohio’s public colleges last week. “In the second place, they should own their advocacy and avoid wearing masks.”
Yost’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The XU Free Palestine group said Lankisch and Dempsey were “peacefully protesting” the war in Gaza outside the school’s Cintas Center when they were arrested almost immediately.
Xavier officials said the two demonstrators were taken into custody for staging a protest away from the designated area the school had set aside for the group.
“Per our policy, Xavier University Police requested that both individuals relocate to the appropriate demonstration area,” the university said in a statement. “This request was ignored, and police notified the protestors that if they did not relocate, they would be arrested.
“After the student and civilian continued to ignore law enforcement, both were arrested and placed into custody without incident,” officials added.
Following Yost’s warning that protests could be hit with charges meant to target the Klan, the Columbus branch of the NAACP slammed the attorney general for equating college protesters with the notorious white supremacy group.
“I think it’s out of line. I think it’s really insincere. I think it’s extremely disrespectful to Black people,” NAACP branch president Nana Watson told NBC 15.
So far, no one arrested in demonstrations in Ohio have been charged with the felony.
