Williams Student Seeking Community Service in Vandalism Incident
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A Williams College student charged in a commencement day vandalism incident is asking Northern Berkshire District Court to agree to a community service plan.
Liam Carey, 20, of Virginia, is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Aug. 11, to answer to charges of vandalism, destruction of property less than $1,200, resisting arrest and trespass arising from the June 8 incident.
Williamstown Police responded to the scene near the commencement grounds at about 7 a.m. to find that Carey had removed the American flag from a college-owned flag pole and replaced it with a Palestine flag.
College officials told police that Carey had smashed a security box, cut a rope and tied one end of a rope on the flag pole to his wrist, according to an affidavit from Officer Brad Sacco.
Police also saw graffiti on nearby granite slabs at the entrance to the Williams Quad and on the stone pathway to Chapin Hall quad. The graffiti included statements like "They Killed our Childhood," "Queer as in Free Palestine," "[Explitive] All Colonizers" and "Williams Funds Genocide," the affidavit reads.
Williams covered up the granite slabs before the crowd started arriving for the commencement, which went off without a hitch.
Sacco wrote that, "All colors observed on the Granite slabs and walkways were located on Careys [sic] pants and fingernails."
A motion filed on July 2 by Carey's attorney, Luke Ryan of Northampton's Strehorn, Ryan and Hoose, argued that Carey is eligible for pretrial diversion because he had no prior criminal record and no outstanding warrants and none of the charges carry "a penalty of incarceration greater than 5 years or [have] a minimum mandatory penalty of incarceration."
Ryan's filing included a letter from the executive director of a Buddhist-based environmental non-profit called Earth Sangha in Annandale, Va.
Madeline Bright told Judge Paul M. Vrabel that Carey has volunteered with the group since he was a high school student in 2021 and completed a summer internship with Earth Sangha last summer.
"Both as a volunteer and as an intern, I came to know Liam as a hard-working young man of upstanding moral character," Bright wrote.
"In addition to being an asset to our organization and the broader community, I believe that having Liam join us again this Summer would be beneficial to him. Propagating local native plants, restoring native plant communities and controlling non-native invasive plants is hard work. However, it almost always improves the mental and physical well-being of those who perform it."
Ryan's motion also included three letters from local residents serving as character references, including one who noted Carey's appearance at a Williamstown Select Board meeting in March 2024.
Carey was one of dozens of local residents that winter who urged the board to adopt a resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities in the territory of Gaza, where Israel was pursuing the terrorist group Hamas, a campaign that generated widespread reports of civilian casualties.
"I didn't prepare a speech," Carey told the board. "I'm not very good at public speaking. But I'm moved to speak because of a really good friend of mine. He's Palestinian. Couldn't be here today because his parents always told him: Keep your head down, don't show your face because it's dangerous.
"But he has close family in Gaza right now, and it's been brutal the past months watching him watch his family suffer like that and watching him scroll through Instagram seeing the news."
Carey said at the time that not enough people were paying attention to the war in Gaza.
"Sometimes, it feels so powerless," he said. "I remember one time after Israel started bombing Rafa, [Williams College's Students for Justice in Palestine] organized a 'die-in' where we broadcast news of what was happening. And he was watching as people walked by, not even looking.
"Anyway, what I'm saying is it can feel very isolated, very powerless when it seems like no one's watching you and it seems like no one cares."
Williams professor Atiya Husain described Carey as a caring person in her letter of reference, twice noting his "warmth and kindness."
"I have observed him listen to his classmates, carefully consider what he hears, and even revisit his position in the moment upon hearing something new," Husain wrote. "I have also observed the reverse: when he disagrees with a classmate and the classmate revisits their own position based on a new argument he shares. Liam's ability to create and sustain this sort of dynamic in classroom discussions attests to a number of Liam's admirable qualities.
"Students at Williams College are known to be conscientious, earnest, warm and hard-working; Liam embodies these qualities."
Under Massachusetts law, a court can consider the report of the Berkshire District Attorney's Office and "any victims … regarding the diversion of the defendant," according to Ryan's motion.
Through a spokesperson, Williams College has declined to say what, if any, statement it will make to the court.
"It's up to the District Attorney's office to decide whether or not to pursue criminal vandalism charges," Williams interim Director of Media Relations Amy Lovett wrote in reply to an email. "You'll need to be in touch with them."
Lovett also said "federal law and college policies" prevent the school from disclosing whether Carey, a member of the Class of 2027 according to his college identification card, remains enrolled at Williams.
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