A jury moved Wednesday to drop the charges against protester Tara McGovern after hearing from University of Iowa police officers and reviewing body and street camera evidence for two days in a packed courtroom.

The jury acquitted McGovern on two misdemeanor charges relating to a protest outside the Iowa Memorial Union in October. The verdict was closed, so the decision was not made in open court.

McGovern, who uses they/them pronouns, was the only one of seven protesters charged who did not take a plea deal. All seven people charged identify as transgender or nonbinary. McGovern’s legal last name is Dutcher, which is used on court documents filed, but they prefer the last name McGovern.

After closing statements, McGovern said in an interview with The Daily Iowan they appreciated their attorney’s work, however, they said the legal process was taxing.

“I lost six months of my life to this, and the county frankly lost a lot of time and resources too,” McGovern said.

The protest took place on Oct. 16, 2023, in response to speaker Chloe Cole at the IMU. Cole is a conservative activist against gender-affirming care for youth and was invited to campus by the UI student chapter of Young Americans for Freedom.

Starting inside the IMU, the protest eventually moved outside to the intersection of Madison and Jefferson Streets. At that point, surveillance footage from the northeast corner of Hubbard Park showed hundreds of protesters began to circle the intersection at approximately 7:50 p.m.

According to testimony from three UIPD witnesses, the event was scheduled to conclude at 8 p.m.

No arrests were made on the night of the protest and the seven people were not notified of criminal charges until nearly a month later in November. UIPD Detective Ian Mallory testified on Tuesday that the delay was due to him traveling on vacation shortly after the protest and not returning until Nov. 1.

McGovern’s charges stem from the events of the protest once it reached the intersection. They were charged with a serious misdemeanor of disorderly conduct for allegedly blocking an intersection during the protest, and a simple misdemeanor for interfering with official acts once police tried to clear a lane for traffic.

Previously, disorderly conduct was only a simple misdemeanor charge, however, after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law “Back the Blue Act” in 2021, the penalty increased for disorderly conduct to a serious misdemeanor.

State prosecutors argued during the trial that because McGovern was circling the intersection with others in October, they had the intent of blocking traffic, which warranted the disorderly conduct charge. Prosecutors also said McGovern’s proximity to UIPD Officer Travis Tyrrell, who was trying to clear the traffic lane, interfered with his official duties.

UI police testified on Tuesday that they were unprepared for such a large protest response. Tyrrell, who was the commanding officer at the protest, said five to six UIPD officers were present. Tyrrell testified he decided to clear a lane for traffic to move through the intersection by creating a line with the officers present and directing the protesters.

UIPD Detective Adam Herrig testified on Tuesday that he saw as many as 20 to 30 cars backed up down Madison Street due to the protest.

McGovern testified Wednesday that they were concerned about Tyrrell and other officers pushing protesters.

Tyrrell testified he used soft physical tactics.

“It was my responsibility as a queer elder, parent, and community member to speak up and tell him to take his hands off them,” McGovern said while testifying.

Both bodycam and video surveillance footage showed McGovern was not in the lane of traffic UIPD was trying to clear, with Tyrrell confirming this in his testimony.

McGovern testified that they approached Tyrrell out of concern for the protesters he was pushing, and told him to stop.

RELATED: UI police testify, bodycam footage shown on first day of Iowa Memorial Union protester trial

During the interaction with Tyrrell on the video, McGovern can be heard saying it is “not illegal to protest” and for Tyrrell to “get his hands off” them. Throughout the interaction, McGovern remained out of the lane police were trying to clear, according to Tyrrell’s testimony.

Tyrrell’s bodycam footage shows him grabbing the wrist of McGovern’s hand they held their phone with, which they used to record the officer.

McGovern testified they were there to walk with their community and did not intend to block traffic, and only recorded Tyrrell out of safety concerns. The recording McGovern took on their phone was not submitted into evidence.

McGovern testified they believed police pushing protesters was not warranted because there was not a dispersal order given to the crowd. Both Tyrrell and Herrig, who were physically present during the protest, confirmed during testimony on Tuesday that there was not a dispersal order given.

Herrig and Tyrrell testified a dispersal order is typically given over a megaphone and is usually only done when violence or looting occurs at a protest.

Police were able to clear the intersection after more officers arrived from the Iowa City Police Department and other agencies. After the backed-up cars were gone, the protesters resumed circling the intersection with no interference from police.

Neither Tyrrell nor any officer present that night mentioned McGovern or interactions with them in initial police reports filed shortly after the night of the protest.

Additionally, McGovern was not on Mallory’s initial list of people UIPD planned to criminally charge until reviewing the evidence with the County Attorney’s Office nearly a month after the protest.

Mallory testified this interaction with the county led them to identify McGovern and add their name to the list of those they intended to prosecute.

He said he had surveilled McGovern’s social media accounts before the protest and remembered their activism against the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office getting an armored vehicle called an MRAP in 2021.

Mallory testified he did not read Tyrrell’s initial police report but requested he write a second report to supplement information on McGovern

In Tyrrell’s second report, he reported that McGovern told others to “stay in the group” which supported the belief that UIPD should press charges because McGovern was encouraging others to go against the police.

However, upon reviewing the body cam footage in court, Tyrrell was not confident McGovern was the one who made the remark and noted many people were moving in front of McGovern.

McGovern’s attorney, Gina Messamer, said in closing statements on Wednesday the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that McGovern had intent to block traffic or interfere with police duties, as McGovern complied with their orders by moving out of the lane police were trying to clear.