TEMPE, Ariz. — ASU Police Chief Michael Thompson will be retiring from his position after he was placed on administrative leave earlier this year following complaints regarding how his department responded to campus protests.
In a statement shared with 12News, a spokesperson for ASU said Thompson will be retiring from the university on Aug. 24 after serving as police chief for the last decade.
"The university community appreciates his years of dedicated service to ASU and wishes him well," the spokesperson said.
Thompson came under scrutiny after police officers cleared out encampments and arrested dozens of protesters during pro-Palestine demonstrations in late April. ASU officials had said the protests were an "unlawful assembly" that broke several campus rules.
A Maricopa County judge later decided to dismiss the protestor cases without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could attempt to re-file the charges.
Chief Thompson was later hit with financial sanctions from Iran for a "flagrant violation of human rights by suppressing pro-Palestine student protest movement." Thompson was one of 11 law-enforcement leaders nationwide slapped with the sanctions.
ASU has not said if a candidate had been picked to replace Thompson as police chief.
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