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A Vanderbilt University student who was arrested and expelled following a pro-Palestinian student protest action in March appeared in court and took the witness stand at a preliminary hearing on Thursday, as other students sat in the gallery wearing keffiyehs to show their support.
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Jack Petocz was one of three students arrested and charged with assault this spring after a group of more than two dozen entered the school’s administration building, Kirkland Hall — which was closed to the public at the time — and occupied the area outside of Chancellor Daniel Diermeier’s office on the building’s third floor. A fourth student was arrested outside the building and charged with vandalism. The protest was aimed at the university’s decision to block a student government vote on a resolution calling for divestment from Israel over the country’s war in Gaza.
After around three hours of testimony, Judge Lynda Jones ruled that prosecutors had established probable cause for the misdemeanor assault charge against Petocz, which stemmed from allegations that he pushed a community service officer and a school administrator during the incident. His case will now move to criminal court. Hearings in the cases of the three other students were rescheduled for November as defense attorneys and prosecutors work on possible settlements.
“The court is very much a proponent and supporter of free speech,” Judge Jones said. “However, there is a line between free speech and violence.”
Petocz faces nearly a year in jail if he is convicted and possibly more if prosecutors decide to pursue a felony aggravated criminal trespass charge. Petocz denied the charges against him in court Thursday, and said the events that led to his expulsion and arrest “did not occur in a vacuum.”
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“For months we had been organizing this issue,” he said. “It wasn’t just some immediate escalation. ... What I will say is that going into Kirkland Hall I had no negative intentions. I never intended to harm anyone or cause anyone to feel unsafe.”
The hearing got heated at times, with the judge and Petocz’s attorney, Ashley Brown, repeatedly arguing over the scope of Brown’s questioning. At one point, Jones admonished Brown for letting Petocz’s testimony stray from the more narrow point of the hearing.
“I feel like this has now become some sort of show for the media, with your client attempting to control a narrative,” Jones said.
Brown asserted Petocz’s right to testify in his own defense.
“If the court feels it’s necessary to excuse the media, then do so,” Brown said.
Jones said she would not remove the press from the courtroom.
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The 27 students who entered Kirkland Hall on March 26 remained there, demanding a meeting with Diermeier, for nearly 24 hours before they were forcibly removed by university police. Following that incident, students maintained a pro-Palestinian encampment outside Kirkland Hall until the end of the spring semester. That area is now surrounded by fencing. Citing the school’s facilities department, university spokesperson Julia Jordan told the Banner that the fencing “is part of reconstruction on the Kirkland esplanade.” Undergraduate classes for the fall semester at Vanderbilt began earlier this week.
At Thursday’s hearing, the prosecution put two university employees — the victims of the alleged assaults — on the stand to describe the events at Kirkland Hall. Tony Brown, a community service officer with the Vanderbilt University Police Department, testified that a female student approached the front door of the building and tried to gain entry by swiping an ID card. Brown said that when he opened the door to tell the student she could not come in without an appointment, two or three other students grabbed the door, allowing the larger group to rush in. As they did that, Brown said, “It seemed like they just attacked me and bombarded their way inside the building.” Brown said he injured his wrist, requiring him to get an X-ray as well as pain relievers and “heat treatment.”
Our reporter’s first-hand account of Tuesday’s events on Vanderbilt’s campus
Surveillance footage from inside Kirkland Hall shows the moment students entered the building, trying to push past Brown as he first sought to close the door then tried to hold the students back. After reporting the incident to his supervisors, Brown said he went to the third floor where the students had gathered outside the chancellor’s office. At that point, Brown testified he was “verbally assaulted” by students who called him a “coward” who “only makes $20 an hour” and should join their protest.
Petocz’s attorney, Ashley Brown, walked through the video of the incident during her cross-examination of Tony Brown. In the end, he acknowledged that he couldn’t recall whether it was Petocz who made physical contact with him. Petocz explicitly denied making physical contact with Brown or interacting with him at all.
The prosecution also called Dr. Dawn Turton, the chief of staff for the chancellor’s office. She alleged that Petocz bumped into her as the students got off the third-floor elevator and that he later pushed her as she tried to block the group from entering the chancellor’s office. She also said Petocz was “screaming” that it was “their university” and that they were “coming in.”
At one point, she said, she was “body checked” from behind and lost her balance, but did not fall. Although Turton said that neither Petocz nor any of the other students threatened her directly, she described it as “a very threatening, distressing situation.”
Petocz testified that he never intentionally pushed Turton and denied that he was screaming at her. While reviewing surveillance footage with his attorney, Petocz said it was a different student who pushed Turton from behind.
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Ellie Kearns, the vice president of Vanderbilt’s student government, attended the hearing in support of Petocz and sent the Banner a written statement afterward.
“The Diermeier administration has had a history of walking out of meetings with students and refusing to meet with student leaders in crucial moments,” Kearns says. “In March, they had a chance to embody the spirit of open dialogue which they have long praised. ... Instead, Diermeier’s administration continues to use their power to suppress student activism, discourage dissent of university policies, and prevent students from learning how to best use their voices to advocate for what they believe is right.”
