Dear Community,

Today, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office announced their decision to decline to file charges against Daily reporter and current news editor Dilan Gohill ’27. He was arrested last spring while covering a protest of the president’s office and faced potential charges of felony burglary, felony vandalism and conspiracy to commit the two.

“This Office supports a free press and recognizes that the law gives reporters latitude to do their jobs in keeping the public informed,” DA Jeff Rosen said in a press release.

Our reporters are currently working on a news story that will go into more depth on the situation, but we felt it necessary to state our relief that the case is over and express our gratitude to Dilan for handling the last nine months with strength and conviction. Despite lack of University support and serious threats to his future as a student and a journalist, he continued to write and edit for The Daily.

We are also grateful that Dilan’s belongings from the day he was arrested will be returned, including a camera that belongs to The Daily.

In our Letter from the Editors released last night, we wrote that pursuing charges against Dilan is not only unfair, but also threatens the mission of student journalism. While we are grateful that the DA came to the same conclusion, we remain frustrated with this entire process’s lack of clarity and timeliness, both from the DA’s office and from the University. It is our hope that going forward, the University will do better in supporting and protecting student journalism on this campus. 

Thank you to Dilan for his patience and unwavering dedication to upholding the tenets of student journalism. 

Best,

Greta Reich ’26

Ananya Udaygiri ’26

Lauren Koong ’26