ST. LOUIS — Organizers of and participants in the anti-Gaza war protest on Washington University’s campus, where over 100 people were arrested, pushed back Tuesday on university leaders’ claims that the demonstration was not peaceful and accused police of using excessive force and injuring nonviolent protesters.
Hundreds of people marched to the campus Saturday and attempted to establish a camp to protest both the war and the university’s ties to military contractor Boeing before police from several area departments began arresting them for trespassing on the private university’s property. Professors, students, activists and political leaders present during the protest sought to counter the university’s narrative of Saturday’s events during a Tuesday news conference in Forest Park across from the site of the arrests.
“What happened on Saturday at Washington University’s campus was unlike anything I’ve seen in my 20 years as an activist,†said ºüÀêÊÓƵ Aldermanic President Megan Green, who was there and said she has participated in hundreds of protests over the years. “I am stunned that a police department, one that has consistently described itself as short-staffed, directed its officers to Washington University on a day when eight shootings sent 12 people to the hospital. We need our officers to address violent crime in our city rather than arrest those calling for an end of violence in Gaza.â€
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Absolutely disgusting footage of the assault on a professor by police at . The professor is in the hospital with broken ribs and a broken arm.
— Dr. Megan Ellyia Green 🌹 (@MeganEllyia)
In addition to ºüÀêÊÓƵ police, other departments present Saturday included Clayton, Richmond Heights, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County and University City.
Washington University said after the protest that several police officers were injured during the arrests, including one who suffered a “severe concussion†and another a broken finger.
The university’s chancellor, Andrew Martin, said in a Monday statement that the demonstration was “not a peaceful protest by our students,†calling Saturday “a dark, sad day†for the university. Administrators suspended participating students, evicted some from their dorms and placed participating faculty, including Green, an adjunct professor, on administrative leave.
Protesters, though, insisted they were peaceful and blamed police and university leaders for escalating the situation by arresting demonstrators. More than 20 people who participated in the protest have reported injuries, said Elizabeth Simakoff with the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Palestine Solidarity Committee.
A woman who only identified herself to the Post-Dispatch as Kait said a large bruise on her arm was from a police officer who punched her Saturday to get her to unlock arms with fellow protesters. She said she was arrested and held for nearly six hours before being released from the ºüÀêÊÓƵ County jail in Clayton after 2 a.m. Sunday morning and issued a summons for trespassing. However, ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell’s office has said it has not yet received any applications for criminal charges.
Organizers read a statement from , a professor of history at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, describing his arrest and injuries Saturday. According to his statement, Tamari is being treated at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for broken ribs and a broken hand that he said he sustained while being arrested during Saturday’s protest. Video of Tamari’s arrest shows him walking up close behind officers before several grab him and force him to the ground.
“My ordeal however is a small price to pay for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza,†Tamari’s statement said.
Michael Allen, a lecturer at Washington University and well-known local architectural historian, was arrested Saturday and suspended from teaching. In a statement organizers attributed to Allen, Allen said he declined to link arms with protesters and opted instead to document the demonstration and ensuing arrests on his phone. His statement said he “filmed the brutal arrest of Steve Tamari†and then Allen, too, was detained by officers.
Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, who was also there Saturday, said she did witness violence.
“But it wasn’t violence at the hand of the protesters, it was violence at the hands of police, a law enforcement response that I have never witnessed before,†she said.
Sonnier said she was a student organizer 10 years ago when protesters marched to ºüÀêÊÓƵ University’s campus and staged a sit-in, with some camping for six days before reaching an agreement with SLU leadership. Sonnier said Washington University’s response was “a 180†from that of SLU a decade ago.
“ºüÀêÊÓƵ University modeled what it looked like to create an environment of dialogue, what it looked like to listen to its students and faculty and to take a proactive approach and an open ear and to think critically of its role in its community,†Sonnier said.
On Tuesday, the ACLU of Missouri issued a statement sharply critical of Washington University’s response, calling it “a divorce from its long history of tolerance towards ... student activism.â€
The ACLU said the university’s actions belied its commitment to freedom of expression.
“In its efforts to silence students and other protestors, the university set up a direct confrontation between police officers and student activists. The escalatory tactics of law enforcement, which led to the physical breakup of the protest and arrests of more than 100 participants, chills, curtails, and restricts expression despite the university’s claims of commitment to that very principle,†the ACLU said.
A protest is planned Wednesday evening for ºüÀêÊÓƵ University’s campus.