Nine people were arrested Tuesday morning in connection to an anti-Israel encampment that was set up overnight on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus.
A social media post from the school’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society said the encampment was set up around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning.
“To this end, we have joined with the students of Columbia University — and the students of other universities nationwide — in establishing an encampment on our campus, an encampment that will remain in place until the administration of this university meets our demands,” the group said in a list of demands it published.
Our Demands! We WILL NOT LEAVE until these demands are met! pic.twitter.com/rRmbtR7v2r
— UMN SDS (@UMNSDS) April 23, 2024
The demands call for a “complete academic divestment from militarized Israeli institutions,” a statement from university administrators recognizing “Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine,” and more.
UPDATE: large crowd gathered outside Coffman Student Union pic.twitter.com/p5hqis8gQo
— Watch Dog UMN (@WatchDogUMN) April 23, 2024
A spokesperson for the university released the following statement:
“In light of protests around the country and this morning’s activity on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus, it’s important to note that the U of M supports and respects free speech through lawful protest. As a public research university, demonstrations where groups express diverse views and opinions occur regularly on our campus. We support the rights of all members of our University community to speak and demonstrate peacefully.
Early Tuesday morning, the U of M Department of Public Safety received reports that a group had established an encampment on the north end of the Northrop Mall on the Twin Cities campus. UMPD arrived shortly after 6 a.m. and informed those present they were in violation of both University policy and state trespassing law. Tents are not allowed on any University property for any purpose without a permit. In addition, Public Safety has not allowed any encampments, tents, fires, or other types of encampment living arrangements on any University properties or in buildings. The group was asked to disperse by 7 a.m. and told they would be arrested if they chose to stay past that time. Some of those present chose to disperse and continue peacefully protesting, but nine chose to remain and were arrested without incident.”
Campuses across the country are grappling with a wave of anti-Israel protests, most notably Columbia University, which is shifting to hybrid instruction for the remainder of the semester because of the intensity of the protests.
