In a police report of the incident, Folts was described as making MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz feel unsafe, though the president told The State News that he had nothing to do with the charges being filed. Folts has formally denied responsibility for the charges, and a hearing on the matter is scheduled for Tuesday. It's unclear if Guskiewicz will be present for it.

Over a dozen public commenters at Friday's meeting rebuked MSU for the charges against Folts and called for them to be dropped.

"Students should not be fearful of retaliation by the university, who should protect students' right to protest on campus," said Associated Student of MSU President Kathryn Harding.

Social relations and policy senior Finni Padgitt described the charges as a deliberate attempt to suppress speech.

"Students should feel safe to express their opinions without fear of retaliation by the place many of us call home," she said.

Waseem El-Rayes, a professor in the James Madison College, said during the meeting that MSU brought the charges against Folts to "make an example of him," and to "suppress the speech of a few voices on campus with the courage to condemn genocide and hold our public officials accountable for their decisions."

Folts himself addressed the situation during the meeting, pointing to the support he's gotten from "every corner of the university" since the charges were filed, and urging MSU to drop them. 

“You, President Guskiewicz, and the board, have the power to make the right decision," he said.

Some speakers admonished MSU's leaders for seeming disinterested during the public comment period.

Art history and visual culture sophomore Caleb Xiang specifically called out Trustee Dennis Denno for looking at his cellphone during speeches and said Guskiewicz seemed to think his "can of Coke" was more important than listening to them; psychology senior Aesha Zakaria called the meeting "incredibly unprofessional."

"So many trustees here refused to look us in the eyes and would rather scroll on their phones and play with their pens," she said.

After the meeting concluded, Denno and Trustee Mike Balow approached a small group of divestment advocates. Asked by a student whether the charges should be dropped, the trustees skirted the question.

"If it was just, like free speech, then, of course," Balow said, "But, what's being reported is that there was more than that. So, what's the truth? I wasn't there that day."

Both trustees said that as publicly elected officials, they should choose their words carefully, and as trustees, they should not interfere with an active investigation.

"ASMSU, Faculty Senate have in the past said trustees have interfered in this university, and have overstepped their bounds, and they should be removed from office," Denno said. "So now you're asking me as a trustee to interfere in an investigation. When? When does a trustee interfere and not interfere?"