Student suing UMass over suspension was previously arrested for pro-Palestine vandalism, protests
BELCHERTOWN — Kivlighan de Montebello, the University of Massachusetts Amherst student who filed a lawsuit this week against the university claiming it suspended him for protesting in support of Palestine, was previously arrested on three separate occasions after similar protests, according to court filings.
De Montebello, a junior at UMass Amherst, was arrested once in 2023 and twice in 2024 for protesting and vandalism related to Gaza, documents in Eastern Hampshire District Court show.
On Oct. 25, 2023, de Montebello was one of 57 students arrested and charged with trespassing after a sit-in rally at the Whitmore Administration Building. The rally took place in response to Israel's war on Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
The criminal charges were later dropped to a civil infraction, court documents show.
Later, de Montebello was one of the 130 students arrested at UMass Amherst on May 7, 2024, for rioting, failure to disperse and disorderly conduct, court documents show.
These charges were dropped five months later, the court docket shows.
During the May 7 protest, police were called on students, faculty and staff who set up a pro-Palestinian encampment at the university hours before.
At the time, university Chancellor Javier Reyes claimed the administration tried to find a resolution with protest representatives, and the arrests were "not the outcome we had hoped for."
Reyes' decisions that day led to multiple votes of no-confidence in him, and the student government called on Reyes to resign .
Later that year, de Montebello was arrested on Oct. 30 and charged with four counts of vandalizing property. He was allegedly caught on camera with another UMass Amherst student, using graffiti to display messages related to the war in Gaza, according to the statement of facts associated to this case.
Graffiti read "Glory to the martyrs" and "Your silence is violence" at various locations around campus, the police report said. At another location, spray paint on a structure had an "inverted red triangle" and the words "Free Palestine," the police report said.
The student pleaded not guilty to all charges. According to the court docket, this past September the charges were continued without a finding. De Montebello faced a probation for four months, which ended earlier this month.
The charges have since been dismissed.
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