Student protester tells jury about demonstrators' plans to take over Stanford president's office

"Avi Singh, an attorney for German Gonzalez, cross-examined Richardson, 21, of Menlo Park, about his correspondence with the five Stanford students on trial - Gonzalez, Maya Burke, Taylor McCann, Hunter Taylor-Black and Amy Zhai - prior to the June 5 event. Singh said the protesters were only focused on bringing attention to their pleas to get Stanford to divest itself from companies that provide military equipment to Israel."

"The group laid out in a group chat beforehand how they would get into the office on June 5, but didn't plan for how long to be there, Singh said. When asked by Singh, Richardson said protesters were concerned for the university's janitorial staff, and wanted to "minimize the mess," which included splattering fake blood across the office. Richardson also said getting Stanford to divest was a "shared principle by everyone" who was in the office on June 5, 2024."

"Last week Richardson said he was a part of a signal group chat called "Bingo Party" that consisted of several protesters, including the five on trial. Richardson said the group messaged each other about how to occupy the building. There were discussions about who would go through a window of the office and open doors and barricade themselves inside."

Defense attorneys told jurors that the Stanford protesters who entered the president's office on June 5, 2024 did not intend the demonstration to be violent and challenged witness John Richardson's reliability. Richardson described correspondence with five students on trial and said protesters focused on urging Stanford to divest from companies supplying military equipment to Israel. He said the group planned entry tactics in a group chat but did not plan how long to stay. Richardson said protesters wanted to protect janitorial staff and intended to "minimize the mess," including splattering fake blood. He acknowledged being part of a Signal group chat called "Bingo Party" and described discussions about entering through a window, opening doors and barricading inside. Singh pointed out Richardson could not recall which tools were used or exactly where the five protesters were.

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