UNC protesters guilty, but convictions vacated

CHAPEL HILL -- District Court Judge Pat Devine found five UNC-Chapel Hill students guilty of failing to disperse during a campus protest in May but then vacated their convictions so they'll have no criminal records.

Dozens of students occupied the lobby of South Building for more than two weeks in April and May to protest the university's refusal to join a program they said would improve wages and conditions for workers who make clothing with the UNC logo.

After then-Chancellor James Moeser declined to discuss the Designated Supplier program at a special meeting of the university's Labor Licensing Advisory Council on the 16th day of the sit-in, the demonstrators moved from the rotunda of South Building into Moeser's own office.

Campus police arrested then-junior Linda Gomaa, and most of the crowd left Moeser's office. Gomaa testified Monday that she had planned to leave if police asked her to. "I didn't really notice [the officer] until he was arresting me," she said.

Sarah Hirsh, Salma Mirza, Thomas Mattera and Tim Stallmann sat on Moeser's floor with their arms locked, and police arrested them one by one. All five, including Gomaa, were charged with failure to disperse, and Mirza was charged also with resisting arrest because she refused to walk to a patrol car and officers had to carry her out.