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UNC student cleared of wrongdoing in campus protest

A judge on Monday dismissed a disorderly conduct charge against a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student who was arrested during a political protest on campus last spring.

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Tancredo protest
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A judge on Monday dismissed a disorderly conduct charge against a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student who was arrested during a political protest on campus last spring.

Helen Elizabeth "Haley" Koch was arrested on April 15 for trying to disrupt a speech by former Congressman Tom Tancredo.

Police had to halt Tancredo's speech after demonstrators broke a window. The Colorado conservative is an outspoken critic of U.S. policies on immigration.

Two other protesters who were arrested a week later during a speech on immigration by former Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode pleaded guilty Monday before District Judge Joe Buckner, and four others still face charges in that case.

None of those six people is a UNC student or employee.

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