Jewish organizations across California’s Bay Area are condemning a judge’s decision to remove Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen from a criminal case involving anti-Israel protesters accused of vandalizing Stanford University’s president’s office.

The ruling bars Rosen from retrying five protesters on felony charges after the judge determined he may have crossed legal boundaries by publicly characterizing the protest as antisemitic during campaign-related messaging.

“Rosen is allowed to take a strong stance against crime in the community, against antisemitism. But caution and care need to be taken when utilizing active litigation in campaign communication,” Judge Kelley Paul said from the bench.

Judge Paul said Rosen improperly described the case as antisemitic even though prosecutors never charged the defendants with a hate crime.

“This case is not a hate crime,” Paul said. “The characterization of the prosecution as a fight against antisemitism runs afoul of case law.”

In a statement to J. The Jewish News of Northern California, Rosen’s office said it “disagrees with the judge’s ruling” but added that it “respect[s] it.”

The Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area and Jewish Silicon Valley issued a joint statement saying they were “deeply troubled” by the ruling and insisted the prosecution should continue.

“This decision uniquely targets minority prosecutors, suggesting they are incapable of pursuing justice in cases perceived to be impacting their own communities,” the statement says, adding that it “risks reinforcing longstanding antisemitic prejudices and invites future defendants to weaponize a prosecutor’s identity against them.”

The defendants are facing felony vandalism and conspiracy charges tied to a June 2024 demonstration in which 13 protesters allegedly broke into Stanford’s executive offices and caused roughly $300,000 in damage. A jury deadlocked earlier this year, reportedly splitting 9-3 on the vandalism charge and 8-4 on the conspiracy count, prompting Rosen to announce plans for a retrial.

The motion seeking Rosen’s removal was filed by deputy public defender Avi Singh, who argued the district attorney compromised his neutrality by featuring the case on a campaign fundraising page titled “DA Rosen Fighting Anti-Semitism,” which also included a donation button.

Singh argued the fundraising material falsely portrayed the defendants as antisemitic despite the absence of hate crime charges.

Rosen, who has publicly spoken about combating antisemitism and supporting Israel, has denied any conflict of interest.

Judge Paul also cited remarks Rosen made during a March 2025 speech at San Jose Hillel, delivered about a month before charges were filed against the protesters. A recording of the speech was later linked on the “Fighting Anti-Semitism” section of his campaign website.

During the speech, Rosen connected antisemitism with “anti-Americanism,” language that Deputy District Attorney Robert Baker later echoed during closing arguments at trial. Judge Paul ruled the overlap in rhetoric justified disqualifying the entire district attorney’s office from handling the case.

Jewish advocacy groups argued the ruling effectively penalizes Rosen for being Jewish.

“Generations of American Jews in positions of public trust have all too often been treated as suspect or inherently conflicted,” JCRC Bay Area and Jewish Silicon Valley said. “This decision risks reinforcing longstanding antisemitic prejudices and invites future defendants to weaponize a prosecutor’s identity against them, casting any public opposition to hate as grounds for disqualification.”

Rosen’s opponent in next month’s district attorney primary, former prosecutor Daniel Chung, seized on the ruling in a campaign video criticizing Rosen’s handling of the Stanford case.

“This is a humiliating loss for DA Rosen and his entire office,” Chung said in an Instagram video. “For years, millions of dollars have been spent trying to prosecute Stanford student protesters with felony charges.”

Chung further argued that Rosen’s conduct “jeopardized the due process of the defendants” and “exemplifies the undermining of integrity, competence and compassion under DA Rosen for the last 16 years.”

The case will now be transferred to the California attorney general’s office, which must decide whether to retry the defendants — German Gonzalez, Maya Burke, Taylor McCann, Hunter Taylor-Black and Amy Zhai — or dismiss the charges entirely.