'Thought ASU would stand behind us': Their charges were dismissed but the repercussions of being arrested during protests at ASU remain

TEMPE, Ariz. — When she dreamed about going to college, she never imagined leaving the campus in handcuffs. 

"I'm surprised that we were arrested at all," Breanna Brocker said while standing outside a Maricopa County courthouse Tuesday. She was there for a court hearing after being arrested on Arizona State University's Tempe campus along with 19 other students and 51 other pro-Palestine protestors who made an encampment on the grounds.

Tuesday, a Maricopa County judge decided to dismiss the cases without prejudice. 

"I thought ASU would stand behind us and protect our rights to protest, our right to assemble," Brocker said. 

But ASU officials said the protest was an "unlawful assembly" that broke several rules, including violating policies on tents and overnight camping. Tempe police arrested 72 people in total. 20 were students, ASU officials said. 

RELATED: A pro-Palestine protest ended with 72 people being arrested after it was broken up by police. Here's a timeline of how it unfolded.

After the arrests, the students involved were placed on "interim suspension" during an investigation. 

"I was stopped from completing my last final," Brocker said. "I was stopped from walking at my graduation and as an ASU employee, I'm currently still stopped from working."

Attorneys representing the protestors said the dismissal of the cases doesn't mean they are in the clear.

"Every single one of them has a record that will show up when a background check is done," attorney Zayed Al-Sayyed said. "And they have to answer to employers in the future as to what happened, why it happened and to prove that the case was dismissed without prejudice. That is a grave, irreparable harm that was caused by the state."

The cases were also dismissed without prejudice, which means the university and county attorney's office can bring the charges back within a year if they so choose. 

Supporters of the protestors rallied outside of the courthouse during the hearing. We spoke to one person who did not want to be identified. 

"As a young person myself, I'll never forget this. So every politician who was silent in this genocide, and punished the people who are protesting, it's something that this generation won't forget and we will remember come November and in every election year."

The ASU police chief was placed on administrative leave following complaints about how the protests were handled.

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