Professional protestors of Texas unmasked: Elementary school teacher, costumer ... trends now
These are the professional protesters who descended on the University of Texas's Palestinian demonstration earlier this week despite having no connections to the school.
Among them is a former elementary school teacher, a costume designer, a Palestinian store-owner and an interpreter.
Their ages range from the early 30s to one man who is 59, and none are enrolled at the college.
Their arrests can be revealed by DailyMail.com today as the school hits back at the narrative that police are at war with wide-eyed, youthful protesters demanding justice in Palestine.
Six non-students arrested at the University of Texas at Austin protests Monday
Julian Manuel Reyes, 55, shown in a 2023 jail booking photo, after being arrested on charges of interfering with public duties, in Austin, Texas
'The University of Texas learned Tuesday that, of the 79 people arrested on our campus Monday, 45 had no affiliation with UT Austin,' the university shared in a statement Tuesday.
'These numbers validate our concern that much of the disruption on campus over the past week has been orchestrated by people from outside the University, including groups with ties to escalating protests at other universities around the country.'
DailyMail.com can now reveal the identities of some of the outsiders who infiltrated the student protests in Austin- obtained through a deep dive of public records.
Julian Reyes, 55, is a well-known Austin ankle biter and fixture at pretty much every local protest.
On his "YouTube channel, Reyes chronicles his many confrontations with the cops, whom he calls 'micro tyrants.'
Former elementary school teacher turned arrestee Sophia Deloretto-Chudy, 28, was among the non-students arrested at the University of Texas at Austin Monday, according to charging documents
Molly Biggar, 34, who works for an LA production firm, mixed in with students at the University of Texas and was arrested for criminal trespassing
He's also uploaded footage of his attendance at other Gaza peace rallies.
On April 24, Reyes was arrested for criminal trespassing, after university police gave protestors a notice to disperse and they refused to leave, according to an arrest warrant for Reyes obtained by DailyMail.com.
Last week's arrest is at least his ninth, as the self proclaimed 'Lizard King' was taken into custody, leaving police unsure what to do with a pet lizard he had with him, according to a clip tweeted by the local paper.
Reyes' was thrown in jail along with 55 others last week. The 'Lizard King' and 25 others had no UT affiliation, University President Jay Hartzell confirmed.
Up until last week, dozens of pro-Palesntine protests had taken place at UT Austin, the crown jewel of state schools in the Lone Star State.
Those protests were attended by students and were peaceful.
Haithem Nasser El-Zabri, 59, runs the Palestine Online Store out of Pflugerville, Texas. He was arrested at Monday's protest
But starting with the April 24 protest and then again this week, people from outside the campus started showing up to the school rallies.
‘The fact is there’s been over 40 pro-Palestinian protests on campus and at the capital since Oct. 7, and everyone has been totally peaceful. What we’ve seen at UT yesterday and on Wednesday is very different. The goal is an encampment, and they are mimicking similar to other college campuses, most notably Columbia,' Austin attorney and political commentator Adam Loewy told DailyMail.com.
Both the university and Gov. Greg Abbott have explicitly said they will not allow protestors to form encampments.
Monday, protestors who chained themselves to tables and barricades meant to set up an encampment, decided they were going to stand their ground, despite receiving multiple warnings from the school police and administration that they would be arrested if they did not leave.
The school called in dozens of state troopers in riot gear to start making arrests.
Jessica Erin Ennis, 37, was arrested at Monday's protest. She has previously been arrested for resisting arrest in 2015, according to public records
Jaime Hammonds, a online content creator who documents current events, witnessed agitators at Monday's protest.
‘There are people there that are definitely not students. There was a lot of people there holding signs that
