A coalition of labor unions, immigration-rights groups and student organizers will convene a news conference at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Roybal Courthouse, 255 E Temple Street, Los Angeles, to call for federal prosecutors to drop criminal charges against lecturer Jonathan Anthony Caravello of California State University Channel Islands (CSUCI).
Caravello is to be arraigned in federal court on accusations that he threw a tear-gas canister at federal agents during an immigration enforcement raid on July 10 at the Glass House Farms cannabis facility in Camarillo, California.
Caravello, a U.S. citizen and lecturer in mathematics and philosophy, was among scores detained during the July raids by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies. Prosecutors allege he assaulted a federal officer under 18 U.S.C. § 111. In contrast, supporters say Caravello was peacefully protesting the raid, and was intervening to help a demonstrator in a wheelchair who was reported to have a tear-gas canister stuck underneath.
“Dr. Caravello was arrested while attending a non-violent protest of this administration’s treatment of migrants. Any fair observer would see that they were protecting others … and we look forward to facing these charges at trial,” said Michelle Ramos Pellicia, vice-president of the California Faculty Association (CFA) and professor at CSU San Marcos.
The July 10 operation at Glass House Farms included coordinated raids at locations in Camarillo and Carpinteria, and resulted in over 300 arrests of individuals suspected of undocumented status and other enforcement actions. One farmworker died after falling from an elevated structure during the raid, and federal authorities say children were present at the site.
CFA, which represents over 29,000 instructional faculty, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches on the 23 campuses of the California State University system, is urging the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California to drop the charges and calls Caravello’s prosecution part of a broader threat to academic freedom and free protest.
