University Spokesman John D. Longbrake released the following statement just after midnight Wednesday morning.

Last Thursday, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III spoke at the Forum at the Kennedy School of Government. As required by Forum policy, his remarks were to be followed by a question and answer period in which audience members would have the opportunity to pose unfiltered questions to him. Four Harvard College students, acting in coordination, sequentially interrupted his remarks and disrupted the event. They were escorted from the Forum and arrested.

The University deeply values reasoned and constructive debate. The ideals of free speech encompass the right of a speaker to speak and the audience to hear. Without undermining either right, a member of the community may register dissent by any number of effective means. Choosing a device that is designed to disrupt an event or limit debate is not consistent with these ideals.

Given the importance of dissent in an academic community, the arrest of a student protestor remains a significant event. For that reason, the Harvard University Police Department has carefully reviewed the situation at the Forum. The University is persuaded that more could have been done in the circumstances to apprise the students that they were in jeopardy of arrest. Without condoning the students’ behavior at the Forum, broader principles have led the University to request that the criminal charges against the students be dropped.