URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A University of Illinois student is facing a misdemeanor charge, in addition to an original felony charge, for her role in pro-Palestine protests on campus last April. 

This makes 18-year-old Yafa Issa’s case more similar to the several other defendants charged from the protests. Issa’s lawyer said she was part of a group who set up a symbolic tent encampment to show solidarity with the refugees of Gaza.

Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said nine people were charged after a U of I Police investigation into the protests. 

She also said, in many cases, defendants were charged with both the felony mob action charge and with misdemeanor resisting a peace officer. The newer misdemeanor charge against Issa could work in her favor if her case plays out similarly to other defendants who faced the same charges.

“There have been already two people who plead guilty, and the agreement in those cases was they plead guilty to the misdemeanor resisting case,” Rietz said. “The minimum sentence for resisting is, generally speaking, 100 hours of public service work and court costs, so those two people who plead guilty accepted that agreement for conditional discharge and public service work, and in exchange we dismissed the felony count.”

The felony charge carries a punishment of up to three years in prison. Like Rietz said, of the nine people charged, two plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge in exchange for dismissal of the felony charge.

She said one person had their case dismissed after reviewing U of I police evidence, public service involvement and taking accountability for their actions.