We, the undersigned faculty, students, alumni and staff of the University of California at Irvine, urge the Orange County District Attorney to halt its unwarranted criminal investigation and not prosecute the UCI students for the protests that occurred during a speech last year by Israels ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren. The UCI-11 and the UCI Muslim Student Union ("MSU") have already been subjected to extensive administrative proceedings, and possibly sanctions, by the UCI Administration. The MSU, whose sanction was made public, was suspended for one quarter and continues to face probation for two academic years. Despite the internal proceedings, the District Attorney has subpoenaed several UCI Muslim students and compelled them to testify before a grand jury. A grand jury, with its secrecy provisions, can only exacerbate fear and division among the students at the University.

We believe that the apparent intention of the Orange County District Attorney to file criminal charges against the UCI 11, and possibly other students, is excessive in the extreme. While some of the undersigned may disagree with the students decisions to hold the protests, no person or property was damaged in the course of the protest, Ambassador Oren was able to complete his speech and, most significantly, the students involved, including the MSU, have been disciplined by the University. A proper regard for justice, and for not inflaming existing tensions on the UCI campus over this incident, call for this matter to be laid to rest now without criminalizing students whose only "crime" was expressing their sincerely held political views in a manner which disrupted, for a time, Ambassador Orens speech.