Students who harassed Border Patrol officers during campus presentation face criminal charges

Two college students face criminal charges after harassing Border Patrol agents visiting the University of Arizona in March.

What's the brief history on this?

The students harassed the Border Patrol agents during an event to benefit criminal justice majors at the University of Arizona.

Agents were addressing a classroom full of students when protesters converged on the classroom and commanded attention. The demonstrators compared the agents to the Ku Klux Klan, called them "murder patrol," and later followed the agents to their cars.

"I don't know who allowed the murder patrol. They allow murderers to be on campus where I pay to be here. Murderers! On campus. Murderers on campus!" one student can be heard yelling in a video of the incident.

Other students ended up phoning authorities over the students' behaviors.

(Content warning: Rough language):

So what's happening now?

On Monday, the Arizona Republic reported that authorities arrested two students in connection with the purported harassment.

Robert Robbins, the president of the University of Arizona, confirmed that two university students will be charged with misdemeanors in connection with the incident.

A portion of a letter from Robbins read, "The incident between the protesting students and the Criminal Justice club members was a dramatic departure from our expectations of respectful behavior and support for free speech on this campus."

Robbins said that university police charged two students with "interference with the peaceful conduct of an educational institution."

"At the core of these inquiries is the University of Arizona's commitment to free speech," Robbins' letter added. "The student club and the CBP officers invited by the students should have been able to hold their meeting without disruption. Student protest is protected by our support for free speech, but disruption is not."

The outlet reported that a Class 1 misdemeanor "could result in up to six months of jail time."

The students' names have not been released at the time of this writing.