U of M students decry arrest of 11 pro-Palestinian protesters

MINNEAPOLIS — Demonstrations at the University of Minnesota continue on Tuesday in support of the 11 pro-Palestinian protesters who were arrested while temporarily occupying an administrative building on campus. 
Monday afternoon’s protest was organized by UMN Students for a Democratic Society. The group is demanding the university divest from companies that support Israel in the war in Gaza, stop those companies’ involvement in campus career fairs and end its policy of institutional neutrality.
In August, after weeks of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, the Board of Regents declined to meet the demands.
Late Monday afternoon, the university released an alert saying protesters entered Morrill Hall. Later, officials said protesters spray-painted security cameras and barricaded the building’s entrance and exit points. Staff who were in the building “were not able to exit,” the university said. 
University police and Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies entered the hall from the tunnels underneath the building and arrested 11 students and alumni around 5:40 p.m., university officials said.  
Those arrested — who range in age from 18 to 26, and are a mix of current and former students — are currently in custody at the Hennepin County Jail in downtown Minneapolis, where demonstrators are also gathered on Tuesday to demand their release without criminal charges.
The 11 are being held on probable cause charges including riot, trespassing and property damage. One person is held on probable cause fourth-degree assault, according to the student group. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said as of late Tuesday morning, no cases have been submitted in connection to Monday’s arrests.
“We are willing to risk nights in jail to get [the university] to honor their commitments to students and divest from Israel,” said Juliet Murphy, press representative for Students for a Democratic Society.   
Murphy said that if there was any property damage, it was to protect students from police. 
“During this occupation, anyone who wanted to leave or enter the hall could do so safely and was actively pointed to the correct exits,” she said. “Any property damage that results, in and around Morrill Hall, was done solely to protect from police. To my knowledge, I don’t believe there was any graffiti that occurred.”
Students are expected to protest on campus again starting Tuesday at 4 p.m. In response, the university closed Coffman Memorial Union at 4 p.m. and postponed a lecture by Dr. Anthony Fauci. 
“We’ve seen an extreme lack of urgency from university administration, we’ve been having conversations with them about certain policies we want to enact, but we haven’t been getting a lot of our demands met, and we felt we haven’t been listened to,” Murphy said. 
University President Rebecca Cunningham said in a statement released on Tuesday that she supports the right to peaceful protest.
“We will continue to value individuals’ rights to peaceful protest and the expression of diverse viewpoints, in ways that are consistent with University policies and federal, state, and local laws,” Cunningham wrote.
However, she said Monday’s actions were a step too far. 
“What happened in Morrill Hall yesterday was not a form of legitimate protest. Threatening behavior and destruction of property have absolutely no place within our community,” she wrote.
Minnesota Hillel, an organization that supports Jewish students on campus, also released a statement on Tuesday that read in part, “our most important priority is keeping Jewish students safe — first, foremost, and always. Hillel’s doors are always open for all Jewish students.”