LSU Board of Supervisors Chair Scott Ballard told the Reveille Thursday that he hopes the seven student protesters arrested at Wednesday’s presidential search committee meeting don’t suffer criminal consequences.

“I am not interested in the criminal side and hurting students for one mistake,” Ballard said in a text message, “but I am not the DA.”

The incident began when Gabriela Juárez, a member of LSU Students for a Democratic Society, refused to yield her time during public comment at the committee meeting and was forcibly removed by LSUPD officers. A group of students, many of them also SDS members, followed Juárez outside and six of them were also arrested after they blocked the LSUPD car to which Juárez was taken.

While the other six students were released from custody shortly after, Juárez was taken to the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison and released Wednesday night on $1000 bail. She told the Reveille on Thursday that her court date is in January, and the other arrested students also have upcoming court dates.

Juárez was charged with resisting an officer and interfering with an educational practice. Enola Guyer, a senior majoring in animal sciences, was charged with resisting an officer, obstruction of highway commerce and prohibiting an educational practice. The other five students were arrested for resisting an officer and obstruction of highway commerce. Those students were Ziad Eissa, Ryan Spalt, Scott Sonnier, Carson Wall and Margo Wilson.

In the text message, Ballard added he was open to the university bringing some form of penalty.

“She does need to be held accountable through the school process for that conduct,” Ballard said.

In a press conference Thursday morning in Free Speech Alley, members of SDS claimed Ballard had called EBR law enforcement to request that charges against the student protesters be dropped. Ballard did not confirm that.

LSU has not yet confirmed if it intends to bring any student conduct penalties against the protesters.