With emotion, judge accepts diversion request for UCSC student charged in 2024 pro-Palestine encampment raid

Superior Court Judge Mandy Tovar surprised herself, and a Santa Cruz courtroom, when she became emotional Thursday as she explained her decision to grant diversion to a UC Santa Cruz student protester who faces charges of remaining at a riot and resisting an officer.

The judge told the courtroom, full of about 30 supporters of UCSC student Esmeralda Hurtado, that she didn’t think she was going to get emotional, as she paused briefly, grabbing her thermos to collect herself. 

Tovar, whom Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed as a judge in September, said she was granting Hurtado’s request for diversion because of the facts of the case and that she was “impressed” by the more than 16 letters of support describing Hurtado’s character. 

As a former student protester herself, Tovar also said that she understands what it’s like to be a university student at protests, as she choked up. 

In being granted diversion, Hurtado is required to do 40 hours of community service and follow a list of conditions to avoid trial and jail time. If she follows the conditions by her next hearing – set for June 4, 2026 – the case against her will be dismissed. Police arrested Hurtado in May and in October of 2024: first, along with 121 others at the Gaza solidarity encampment at UCSC, and second, at a pro-Palestine rally, also at the university.  

Tovar read quotes from one of the letters about Hurtado written by UC Santa Cruz professor Christine Hong, and grabbed a tissue as she read lines from it, saying, “I do need this.” 

After reading, Tovar said, “None of us is perfect. We all make mistakes in our lives.” She said that throughout her career, she’s seen young people who’ve had their futures negatively affected by the justice system. 

“I don’t want that for you, Ms. Hurtado,” she said, adding that she’s an excellent candidate for diversion. 

At the end of the hearing, the crowd applauded and filtered out of the courtroom. People sniffled and cried and hugged each other with beaming smiles. 

Outside the courthouse, Hurtado told Lookout she felt “tired” and glad it was over. Hurtado, 20, plans to graduate from UCSC in the spring with a degree in critical race and ethnic studies. 

“I’m happy it’s over, frustrated that it happened in the first place,” she said. “I’m really f–king angry that there’s still a genocide going on, that there’s people starving still, that so many people are just going back to their normal lives and acting like this isn’t still happening.” 

Hurtado said her focus once she graduates will be to continue advocating for the people of Gaza. 

Hurtado was arrested first at the Gaza solidarity encampment in May 2024, along with 121 other protesters. The encampment was located at the base of the UCSC campus after it was initially set up at the university’s Quarry Plaza. Police charged all 122 protesters with failure to disperse and several with resisting arrest and battery of an officer. No formal charges were filed against any of those arrested, until after Hurtado was arrested a second time later that fall. 

She was arrested again on Oct. 7, 2024, after a rally in support of Palestine on campus. Bystanders at the rally told Lookout that Hurtado was approached by officers after the event had ended and they were cleaning up. Officers told her that she couldn’t wear a mask and use a bullhorn, and asked her to identify herself. Police say she physically resisted arrest and took her into custody. 

Months after that incident, on March 7, 2025, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s office filed formal charges against Hurtado. UCSC police didn’t forward any other cases to the DA’s office for review, meaning none of the other 121 people arrested on May 31, 2024, faced formal charges. 

Hurtado’s attorney, Lauren Cox, told Lookout that she felt good about the hearing’s outcome. She said the judge’s response was “appropriate.” Attorney Ed Sidawi also worked on the case. 

“The case calls up big emotions, what people were protesting about,” Cox said. “I think also partly the fact that it’s a [20-year-old] that feels passionately about a cause, and she’s the only person criminally charged out of all of the protesters.” 

Judge Syda Cogliati had been overseeing the case until Cox and Sidawi filed a motion to disqualify the judge via California Code of Civil Procedure Section 170.6. The motion was granted and the case was reassigned to Tovar. Section 170.6 allows a party to file the motion if they believe that the judge is prejudiced against them. No proof of prejudice is required for the motion to be granted. 

Thursday’s hearing was Tovar’s first time presiding over the case. Cox said it was possible that having Tovar instead of Cogliati affected the outcome. 

“It seems to,” she said. 

Hurtado’s parents were among the supporters present on Thursday. Her mother, Graciela Hurtado, said she was disappointed in the UCSC officers who arrested her daughter. 

“I didn’t think I had sent my kid to the university to be treated this way and not get protected for speaking her mind and for standing for what she thinks is right,” she said. “It costs a lot of money to send our kids to university, and had we known this when she was in high school, and this was one of her choices, maybe we would have gone somewhere else. It’s not right.” 

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