Charges dropped against member of the Irvine 11

Misdemeanor criminal charges against one of the so-called Irvine 11 were dropped Friday after he appeared in court to prove completion of community service, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Hakim Nasreddine Kebir, 21, was originally one of the 11 Muslim college students facing two misdemeanor charges of disrupting a public assembly and conspiring to willfully commit a crime.

The D.A.’s office agreed to drop the charges in July upon Kebir’s completion of 40 hours community service.

“He agreed to take responsibility early on in the proceedings,” said D.A. spokesperson Farrah Emami.

Kebir completed his community service at the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in Costa Mesa, and will not face prosecution for his involvement in the Feb. 8, 2010, disruption of Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s visit to UC Irvine.

The remaining 10 students, who attend UC Irvine and UC Riverside, were found guilty of both misdemeanor crimes Sept. 23 and were sentenced to 56 hours of community service, three years’ probation and fines — something attorneys for the students said they plan to appeal.

On Sept. 28 the D.A. released some of the evidence it presented to jurors including emails between the students, a 45-minute video of Oren’s speech and a clip of an unidentified student outside the university’s hall saying the students “pretty much shut [Oren] down.”

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