Protesters in support of Palestinians marched and set up tents on the campus of Washington University in ºüÀêÊÓƵ before police arrested them Saturday night, April 27, 2024. Video by Jacob Barker, ºüÀêÊÓƵ
ST. LOUIS — Police arrested dozens of pro-Palestine protesters who attempted to set up encampments Saturday on the campus of Washington University in the latest example of pushback by university administrators against demonstrations that have roiled academic institutions across the country.
The protesters were demanding an end to the war in Gaza and calling on the private university to cut all ties to Boeing Co., a major supplier of military equipment to Israel and leading employer in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region.
Among those arrested and led away to waiting vans Saturday was Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, said Aldermanic President Megan Green, who participated in the protest.
Shortly before midnight, Washington University released a statement that said it had arrested more than 80 people who refused to leave campus. Those arrested may face trespassing charges and some could be charged with resisting arrest and assault for injuries to police officers, the university said.ÌýThe university said the large group included students, employees and “many individuals not affiliated with the university.â€
“It quickly became clear through the words and actions of this group that they did not have good intentions on our campus and that this demonstration had the potential to get out of control and become dangerous,†Washington University’s statement said.Ìý
By 8:40 p.m., the campus was cleared, and about 25 people who weren’t arrested were escorted to the sidewalk along Skinker Boulevard. Those arrested seemed to mostly comply with police orders, and police led most protesters away without incident.Ìý
After the encampment was cleared, a police officer with a bullhorn told those remaining who were not affiliated with the university to leave. Green, also an adjunct professor at Washington University, said that she was affiliated with the university.Ìý
“Are you leaving?†the officer responded through the bullhorn. “You’ve also been given a dispersal order.â€
Green said she was dismayed at the police response to the protest, which she called “jovial†and “loving†before the arrests began. Green, along with Stein and ºüÀêÊÓƵ Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, sought to speak with university administrators to secure permission for the protest to continue peacefully. They were rebuffed by police on the scene.Ìý
Earlier Saturday, activists said they launched the encampment following similar protests at Columbia University and other colleges and universities across the United States.
“It’s the morally right thing to do,â€Ìýretired ºüÀêÊÓƵ County resident Ed “Bongoâ€ÌýHerhold, 70, said about joining the march Saturday, one of several actions he has participated in since the war began in October. “It’s humanity.â€
“They’re making the same mistakes they made 50 years ago,â€ÌýHerhold said.
By 4 p.m., the protesters had pitched about 10 tents outside of Olin Library, where curious students studying inside watched through the library’s glass walls.
After police told the protesters to disperse, and warned of arrests, the protesters packed up their tents and then marched to Tisch Park, on the campus between Brookings Hall and Skinker Boulevard, where they set up the tents again.
Police followed the protesters to the new encampment site.
Many of the protestersÌýchanted “WashU you can’t hide, you support a genocideâ€Ìýand “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.â€Ìý
They also chanted “long live the Intifada,†referring to two uprisings of Palestinians in the late 1980s and early 2000s.
There has been no official finding that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza although South Africa has made such a claim at the International Court of Justice. Israel strongly rejects the accusation and has asked the court to throw out the case. The phrase “from the river to the seaâ€Ìýis widely seen as a call for the elimination of the state of Israel.
Jordan Kadosh, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Heartland, said his organization was “dismayed to see anti-Israel protests ... using terms like Intifada, which refers to two periods of indiscriminate violence directed at Jews in Israel.
“Protests that use these terms don’t alleviate suffering nor bring about lasting peace in a global setting,†Kadosh said in a statement about the Washington University protest.
At 5:15 p.m., officers with the university’s police department gave the roughly 150 or so protesters who remained on campus a 10-minute warning, saying they would be arrested for trespassing and disruptive behavior unless they dispersed and left campus.
Protesters responded by sitting in a circle with arms locked, chanting “we’re not leaving.â€Ìý
By 7:30 p.m., the arrests began. Every few minutes, the police would approach the remaining group of about 150 protesters, arrest a dozen or so, and lead them back to the waiting police vans, whittling down the protesters over the course of an hour.
In addition to campus police, a couple dozen police officers from University City, Richmond Heights, Clayton, ºüÀêÊÓƵ and ºüÀêÊÓƵ County gathered about 100 feet west of the circle of protesters near Skinker Boulevard.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ resident Kieron Kessler, 24, said theyÌýhad attended several actions since the war in Gaza began and Washington University’s arrests of protesters was a “huge problem.†Protesters are being arrested on college campuses even in “blue states†like New York and Massachusetts, so Kessler said there could be an even greater risk in Missouri, a “red state.â€
“There’s a lot of different ways to engage with Palestine, and this is a huge part of it,†Kessler said of the march.
Later that evening, Kessler was trying to find which city's police station their friends had been taken to. Kessler said they were the last of the group of friends that had come out to protest.
“They just arrested their own students,†Kessler said of Washington University. “This is some Vietnam-era behavior.â€
Max F., a protest organizer with Resist Wash U and a junior at the university who declined to give a full name, said prior protests were not met with this level of response from police. There had been arrests, but nothing on this scale.Ìý
Saturday’s protest, which initially drew about 300 people, began at about 3 p.m. in Forest Park, just east of the university campus.
The protesters briefly blocked traffic on Skinker Boulevard as they made their way to the Danforth Campus.
In a press release sent at 4 p.m., the activists listed five demands:
• Cut ties with Boeing, including banning the aerospace giant from recruitment events.
• Cut ties with Israeli educational institutions.
• Drop charges and suspensions stemming from earlier campus protests.
• Stop acquiring real estate in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, and make payments in lieu of taxes to University City and ºüÀêÊÓƵ. (All of Washington University’s property in Missouri is exempt from property taxes.)
• Release a statement “condemning the ongoing genocide in Palestine and calling for an immediate, permanent cease-fire.â€
Julie Hail Flory, the university’s vice chancellor for marketing and communications, initially declined to comment on the protest and demanded the Post-Dispatch leave the campus.
Later Flory said she believed a majority of the protesters are not students. Later, the university released a statement that said the encampment violated university policy.
“We are firmly committed to free expression and allow ample opportunity for voices to be heard on our campus,†Washington University’s statement said. “However, we expect everyone to respect our policies and we will take swift action to enforce them to their fullest extent.â€
Dozens of colleges and universities have seen student protests over the Israel-Hamas war in recent weeks, but the number accelerated after the arrest last week of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.
Washington University graduate student Rui Zhang said she was on her way to the library Saturday when she heard the drums and the library was shut down.
She stood off to the side of the remaining protesters Saturday evening to observe. She was impressed with the protesters calling for peace and additional rights on behalf of people they didn’t even know.
So far, she said, the police had showed restraint. But police warned they would begin arresting those remaining on campus soon.
“I think they’re brave,†Zhang said of the protesters.
Palestinians supported protesters in ºüÀêÊÓƵ a decade ago during the Ferguson unrest and activism, said Richard Buthod.
“All the things the ºüÀêÊÓƵ cops did to us in Ferguson, the Palestinians knew from their own experience how best to respond,†said the 68-year-old Ferguson resident.
Buthod said Washington University took “the easiest route†in arresting protestors on campus rather than embracing free speech.
“Washington University is famous for protecting its endowment first and its reputation second,†he said.
Police arrest protesters attempting to camp in support of Palestine on Saturday, April 27, 2024, on Washington University's campus in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Dozens were arrested during the protest.Ìý
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, left, links arms with others, including Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, second from right, and Aldermanic President Megan Green, right, as they surround campers protesting in support of Palestine as police show up to their encampment on Saturday, April 27, 2024, on Washington University's campus in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
Kait Killgo and others supporters of Palestinians in Gaza set up camp at Tisch Park at Washington University, after protesters marched from Forest Park to the university campusÌýon Saturday, April 27, 2024.
Protesters attempting to camp in support of Palestine link arms as police prepare to arrest them on Saturday, April 27, 2024, on Washington University’s campus in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Dozens were arrested during the protest.
A protester gives his name to bystanders as police arrest him as he attempts to camp in support of Palestine on Saturday, April 27, 2024, on Washington University's campus in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Dozens were arrested during the protest.Ìý
Police arrest protesters attempting to camp in support of Palestine on Saturday, April 27, 2024, on Washington University's campus in ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Dozens were arrested during the protest. Photo by Christine Tannous, ctannous@post-dispatch.com