GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A University of Florida senior accused of spitting on a campus police officer while his classmates were being arrested during pro-Palestinian protests accepted a plea deal Wednesday that lets him avoid any time behind bars.
In the courtroom, Alachua County Circuit Judge Phillip A. Pena lectured Allan Hektor Frasheri, 21, of Largo, Florida, just north of St. Petersburg. Pena told him that spitting on a police officer was “demeaning, it’s inappropriate and unnecessary.”
Pena also ordered Frasheri to apologize in a letter to the officer, Maj. Kristy Sasser.
“This is much more offensive and distasteful than pushing someone,” Pena said.
Frasheri will spend 18 months on probation and undergo a mental health evaluation under the plea agreement. He was kicked out of UF over the incident before he graduated and suspended for four years. The university also banned him from campus for three years.
On video recorded that day by the Florida Highway Patrol, Frasheri is seen fidgeting with a water bottle as Sasser and other police officers walk past him with a classmate already in custody. Frasheri thrusted his face toward the officers. Sasser said he spit on her arm, and she turned to arrest him as he walked away into a crowd.
Frasheri was the only protester charged with a felony – battery on a police officer – after he and eight others were arrested on UF’s campus April 29. That was during a demonstration against Israeli violence in Gaza responding to the Hamas attack in October 2023. He spent two days in jail in the case after his arrest.
Nearly all the other protesters – including five other UF students – have already accepted plea agreements in their misdemeanor cases.
Frasheri said he regrets “some of the actions I’ve done,” but he doesn’t regret protesting that day on campus. He said he is still planning to transfer to another college or university to finish his degree. He said he was a philosophy and economics double major at UF.
“I’m happy to finally put this behind me,” he said. He added: “Ideally I would transfer and finish up my bachelor’s degree.”.
Frasheri and his public defender, Daniel Sarafan, sought to persuade the State Attorney’s Office to reduce the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor or defer prosecution entirely, but prosecutors declined, he said.
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This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporter can be reached at kairilowery@ufl.edu. You can donate to support our students here.