BLOOMINGTON – The Monroe County Prosecutor dismissed a disorderly conduct charge against IU alumnus Tom Sweeney, who was detained by the IU Police officers while speaking at a pro-Palestinian demonstration and was arrested on April 8, 2024.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Kehr says video footage from the event led prosecutors to determine they could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. So on May 14, 2024, in Monroe Circuit Court 3 the prosecution moved to dismiss the case and have it expunged from Sweeney’s record.
On April 8, the day of the solar eclipse, demonstrations began about 20 minutes before totality in Cox Arboretum. They included members of IU Alumni for Palestine, the IU Palestine Solidarity Committee, and high school students from Indianapolis. The group gathered to demand IU divest from Israel and protest the passing of Senate Bill 202, which increases state legislative oversight on public universities in Indiana.
After the eclipse on April 8, IUPD officers asked demonstrators to move to Dunn Meadow, which has been designated an “Assembly Ground” on the IU Bloomington campus since 1969. It has been the site of protests and other demonstrations for decades.
On the day of his arrest, Sweeney was speaking through the megaphone at Dunn Meadow when a group of Indiana University police officers came up behind him and told him he was under arrest on a charge of disorderly conduct for being loud, disruptive, and failing to comply.
Fifty-seven people have been arrested on charges including trespassing, resisting arrest, and battery at the pro-Palestinian encampment in Dunn Meadow. All those arrested also face a one-year ban from the IU campus.
