Most serious charges dropped against Penn State professor charged after vaccine rally
The most serious charges filed against a Penn State assistant professor who had been accused of assaulting a student who opposed COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates at a pro-vaccine rally were withdrawn Thursday.
W. Oliver Baker, 36, still faces one summary count of harassment. He pleaded not guilty Thursday. Misdemeanor charges of simple assault and disorderly conduct were dropped.
Defense lawyer Julian Allatt commended Centre County’s top prosecutor for dropping the most serious charges, writing in an email Friday that the charges had “no evidentiary support.”
”Professor Baker did not assault (the counter protester) in an effort to prevent (him) from voicing his opposition to the pro-vaccine speakers as the criminal complaint suggested,” Allatt wrote. “Rather, it showed that professor Baker attempted to de-escalate a disruptive, menacing and aggressive individual by encouraging him to join the other counter protesters who were voicing opposition, but were not physically interfering or menacing the attendees or speakers.”
Baker, an assistant professor of English and African American studies, remains on administrative leave while an investigation is ongoing, university spokeswoman Lisa Powers wrote in an email Friday.
Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna declined comment Thursday.
Baker was accused of trying to take the counter protester’s sign, pulling him to the ground and injuring him during the brouhaha in front of Old Main. The sign was made up of several memes, including one that read “Shut the f--- up liberal.”
The counter protester was left with a bloody nose and was evaluated at Mount Nittany Medical Center.
The remaining harassment charge filed by university police accused Baker of repeatedly following the counter protester to cordon him off, restricting his “freedom of movement” and making physical contact with him.
That phrase didn’t sit well with Allatt.
“’Freedom of movement’ is simply a made-up concept; people are not ‘free’ to move their fists into other people’s faces or barrel through people that they perceive to be in their way,” Allatt wrote. “People are not free to move into your living room and sit down on your couch; people are not ‘free’ to move about in such a way as to menace and intimidate others.”
The pro-vaccine rally was coordinated by faculty-based group Coalition for a Just University. The organization advocated for a vaccine mandate at the university and threw its support behind Baker.
The group was “happy” with the decision to withdraw the most serious charges, spokesperson Valerie Braman said Friday, but pushed for the remaining charge to be withdrawn as well.
The counter protester’s “expressed purpose” was to disrupt the rally, CJU wrote in a September statement.
”We called for a peaceful rally to urge the Penn State administration to issue a vaccine mandate. CJU/PSU members and the faculty, staff and students gathered there were peaceful, respectful and certainly neither aggressive nor disruptive,” the organization wrote. “It is very unfortunate that the police are targeting professor Baker, who took it upon himself to address a menacing and aggressive counter protester in an effort to ensure the safety of all attendees.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 1:20 PM.