Yesterday, Lebanon District Court Judge Michael Mace sentenced Kevin Engel ’27 and Roan Wade ’25 — two student protesters arrested for trespassing in October 2023 — to 20 hours of community service and a potential $310 fine each.
Engel and Wade were arrested on Oct. 28, 2023 after setting up an encampment on the Parkhurst Hall lawn to protest Dartmouth’s alleged investment in “organizations that are complicit in apartheid and its apparatuses” — as well as to advocate for other aims outlined in the Dartmouth New Deal. In January, the two were found guilty of one count of misdemeanor criminal trespass each. Class B misdemeanors carry a maximum punishment of up to $1,200 and probation under New Hampshire state law.
According to defense counsel Kira Kelley, Engel and Wade were each ordered to pay $310 now — satisfiable through community service — and $310 if they reoffend within one year. The students must complete their community service at the LISTEN Thrift Store and Donation Center — a nonprofit organization in Lebanon with which the pair is already involved, according to Wade — by May 11 of this year.
Engel and Wade, who were given the opportunity to speak before their sentences were announced, both accepted any punishment but indicated that they will continue their activism efforts.
“It is important for me to highlight that in every form, life has been targeted, and at every step, [Gaza’s] destruction has been funded, aided, abetted and diplomatically protected by the United States,” Engel, speaking first, said.
In their statement before the court, Wade said Palestinians are “members of our community.”
“There is no punishment you could give us that would be worse than living a life knowing we have remained complicit in a genocide,” Wade said.
They added that they and Engel “accept the punishments of [their] actions” and would not “let the fear of punishment deter [them] from doing what [they] owe [their] peers in Gaza.”
College spokesperson Jana Barnello directed The Dartmouth to a Jan. 16 statement following the pair’s guilty verdict. At that time, she declined to comment on the Court’s January 2025 verdict but wrote that the College will “continue to offer the students [its] support.”
At the start of the hearing, prosecutor Mariana Pastore recommended that Engel and Wade be fined $500 dollars each. Kelley urged community service for Wade and Engel, arguing that this punishment would allow them to “make the community whole” without risking arrest. After Engel and Wade spoke, Pastore added that she believed they should not be given community service because their speeches contained “no indication” that they had a plan to “put an end to the breaking of the law.”
Prior to delivering the sentences, Mace acknowledged that Engel and Wade had been “respectful” to local law enforcement during their arrest and that their “acceptance of responsibility” was “something [he does not] see often.”
Though he said he was “inclined” to agree with Pastore that Engel and Wade should not be given only community service — when others would likely receive a fine for a “similar” offense — he decided on a “hybrid” approach due to their well-mannered conduct at the time of their arrests.
Pastore did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
Alesandra Gonzales is a reporter, photographer, and videographer for The Dartmouth from south Texas, majoring in psychology with a minor in film. Outside of The D, she likes to workout, watch The Ranch, and do EMS work. She is a licensed EMT in three states.
