UPDATE: Matzat Faces 5 Felony Vandalism Charges & 15 Misdemeanor Charges

UPDATE: Tomas Matzat has been charged with the following: 

• 5 felony counts of vandalism in excess of $400 (PC 594) 
• 14 misdemeanor counts of vandalism less than $400 (PC 594)
• 1 misdemeanor count of possession of tools or marking substances with intent to commit vandalism. 

"Markers, paint, that sort of thing," said Assistant Chief Deputy DA Michael Cabral. "All of these occurred between Jan. 24 and March 17 of this year." 

When asked about the specifics of the vandalism (what/where/etc), Cabral said he "can't really comment on evidence at this time." He described the vandalism as "slogans, pictures, a bit of everything." 

The evidence will eventually be specified in a preliminary hearing. Cabral says he is limited in what he can and can't say at this point. 

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ORIGINAL STORY

Students are planning a gathering Thursday in response to the arrest of Occupy UC Davis protester Tomas Matzat, whom police suspect is responsible for several acts of campus vandalism.

Matzat was one of the 10 arrested during the and is also being charged in the campus .

The Davis Enterprise reports that he was arrested in connection with “six incidents of vandalism to campus walls, windows, bus shelters and restrooms over the past few months.” The vandalism being discussed is graffiti art. 

The following statement, posted on the Re-Admit Tomas to UCD! Facebook event, suggests that in addition to being arrested, Matzat has been expelled from UC Davis, although that has not been confirmed. Here’s one comment in regard to the expulsion, made by the Event Page’s administrator. Below that is the full statement.

He's been expelled for poor grades the quarter he was arrested during the pepper-spray incident, when he got nerve damage in his hands, from the cops' zipties, when they arrested him illegally. He's been accused of a crime, but he hasn't even been arraigned yet, so he's not guilty of anything that anyone knows of. But when he was arrested, he was left to sit in jail over finals week, and he got 'I's in classes.

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Here’s the full statement, which is also posted at Reclaim UC blog.

A UC Davis undergraduate in art studio was arrested early Saturday morning, 17 March, in his dorm room, by members of both the UC Davis and City of Davis Police. He 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. UC Davis Student Judicial Affairs, which initiated the warrant for his arrest, didn’t bother to notify his home department, his family, friends, or professors to let them know the student’s whereabouts. 

Several weeks later, both Student Judicial Affairs and Student Housing threatened him with disciplinary measures including eviction and expulsion, in addition to the criminal charges they initiated through Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig. The student, who entered UCD as a transfer student last fall, has since been expelled based on poor academic performance, on top of criminal charges that may carry a 3-4 year sentence and $10,000 fine. As a student prominently involved with Occupy UC Davis, arrested during the pepper spray incident on Nov. 18, 2011, these charges appear to be a means to intimidate and punish him for political activism. 

The charges against this student-activist are in line with the ongoing and systematic police and legal repression of the Occupy movement. 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 Davis. The university News Service, which reports directly to Chancellor Katehi, has already expressed its enthusiasm for engaging “law enforcement to prosecute proven violations” — seeming to misunderstand the legal relation of trials, proof, and guilt almost entirely, with harmful consequences for students.

The Reynoso Task Force Report on the UCD Pepper Spray Incident just last week verified that the administration’s unfounded hysteria regarding the Occupy movement resulted in their extralegal use of force against student activists. 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. 

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