Student Faces Arraignment, Hearing on Student Status on Friday

UC Davis student Tomas Matzat will be arraigned this afternoon on felony vandalism charges, the Vanguard finally confirmed late Thursday.  The arraignment had been something of a mystery, as Mr. Matzat apparently received the date upon his release from custody, but the hearing was not on the public calendar or in the court’s computer system.

Repeated emails to Assistant Chief Deputy DA Michael Cabral were unreturned, despite the request for public information.  The hearing was finally confirmed by the Yolo County Public Defender’s Office.

Thomas Matzat suffered nerve damage when he was one of 10 arrested for misdemeanors during the camp-clearing operation back in November 2011.   Next Friday, he will be one of 12 arraigned on misdemeanor charges for his bank-blocking actions.

Andy Fell, spokesperson for UC Davis, told the Vanguard that “Thomas Matzat, 22, of El Dorado Hills, a UC Davis student, was arrested March 17 on charges of felony vandalism in connection with a series of graffiti incidents on campus.”

Meanwhile, the Vanguard learned from Kristin Koster, a postdoc at UC Davis, that Mr. Matzat has been dismissed from the university and kicked out of his student housing.

Mr. Fell could not confirm that, stating, “I just checked with the Registrar’s office and Thomas Matzat is a current student.”

However, beyond that UC Davis could not say because, according to Mr. Shiller, “Federal privacy law precludes us from providing anything related to a student’s record.”

On Thursday afternoon, between 25 and 30 protesters gathered in the Office of Letters and Science to protest Mr. Matzat’s expulsion.  After what seemed to be a futile effort, the group made headway as they were able to get Mr. Matzat’s attorney to speak to James McClain, believed by the Vanguard to be an assistant dean.

Mr. McClain patiently answered the student and other protesters’ questions, during a tense session exacerbated by the unseasonably warm temperatures on Thursday.

A critical concern that students had was the ability of Mr. Matzat to plead his case while other charges were pending.  There was concern that, in order to defend himself in front of a university disciplinary proceeding, he would expose himself to further legal jeopardy.

The breakthrough occurred when Mr. McClain was put on the phone with the attorney, and an agreement was reached to have a hearing with his attorney present at 4 pm Friday afternoon.

According to a press release from “Occupy UC Davis Antirepression Crew Media,” Mr. Matzat “was charged with Felony Vandalism and held in jail over the weekend and into finals week; his school supplies, phone and computer were all confiscated.”

“With no access to his contacts nor warning of the arrest, he was unable to contact legal representation. Incommunicado in jail, he was unable to take final exams, and was only bailed out (for $20,000) when concerned friends began looking for him after he had been missing for days,” they write.

“Several weeks later, both Student Judicial Affairs and Student Housing are threatening him with disciplinary measures including eviction and expulsion, in addition to the criminal charges they initiated through Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig” the press release continues.

“The student, who entered UCD as a transfer student last fall, is now facing expulsion based on poor academic performance, on top of criminal charges that may carry a 3-4 year sentence and $10,000 fine,” the release said.

“The charges against this student-activist are in line with the ongoing and systematic police and legal repression of the Occupy movement,” the group said. “Threatening people with inflated or trumped-up charges, a familiar tactic in many vulnerable communities, is now increasingly wielded as a strategy to chill political dissent on campuses – a way of exacting punishment in jail time, legal expenses, and interference with other obligations before the opportunity for trial.”

“This is the new de facto regime of guilty until proven innocent, and it should be opposed by every decent person,” said Joshua Clover, a professor at UCD.

Professor Clover declined further comment to the Vanguard, citing the pending legal charges against him.

The press release notes the Reynoso Task Force Report, which they argued “verified that the administration’s unfounded hysteria regarding the Occupy movement resulted in their extralegal use of force against student activists.”

Here they refer to the administration’s apparent preoccupation with unaffiliated students.  And if you think “hysteria” is too strong a word, it is not that much different from the notion of “succumbed to fear” advanced by the always radical Davis Enterprise Editorial page.

The Davis Enterprise editorial last week argued, “Rather than listen to staff members who had spent hours with the Occupy UC Davis protesters, Chancellor Linda Katehi’s misnamed ‘leadership team’ succumbed to fear about non-students camping on the Quad.”

The Enterprise continued, “Not only did top brass not go look for themselves, they couldn’t be bothered to hold meetings. With the safety of students on the line, they held conference calls ending with uncertainty about what decisions were made and who made them.”

They add, “Inexplicably, the group did not consider alternatives to sending in police – when every alternative should have been exhausted before an officer picked up a helmet or baton.”

The press release argues, “Importantly, the Reynoso Report also underscored the need for campus authorities to handle student political protest through already established, appropriate channels; namely through the SJA and Student Affairs – and not by means of police and criminal charges.”

They conclude, “We urge the UCD campus community and the general public to reject categorically the administration’s use of legal maneuvering to suppress political dissent.”

—David M. Greenwald reporting

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