Police arrested multiple demonstrators at an anti-Israel protest at the University of Georgia on Monday morning after they had set up an encampment on the front lawn.
Organized by the group Students for Justice in Palestine, the protesters erected a camp on the Old College Front Lawn near the north campus, demanding that the university offer “solidarity, protection, and the disclosure and divestment of financial relationships with zionist organizations.”
“Our universities have chosen profit over the lives of the Palestinian people and the overwhelming force of student opinion. Our administrators are more concerned with maintaining their prestigious reputations than the Israeli occupation’s ongoing slaughter of Palestinians,” the group wrote. “Their supposed power is nothing compared to the united strength of students, faculty, and staff committed to realizing justice and upholding Palestinian liberation on campus.”
University of Georgia police arrested at least 16 people during a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus Monday. Student protesters demanded UGA to cut financial ties with Israel-supporting companies. pic.twitter.com/rH6mkSkdsY
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) April 29, 2024
According to Fox Atlanta, roughly two dozen protesters had swarmed the encampment and refused to follow police orders to remove their tents. Greg Trevor, University of Georgia spokesman, wrote that the protesters “were advised repeatedly, for more than an hour, that the tents and barricades they had put in place had to be removed and that they must comply with applicable policies.”
“They were also given the opportunity by Student Affairs personnel to make a reservation and relocate to one of our centrally designated forums, but they refused,” Trevor wrote. “After multiple warnings that they would be arrested for trespass if they did not comply with our policies, at 8:30 a.m., UGA Police were left with no choice but to arrest those who refused to comply.”
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“Let us make it abundantly clear that while the University of Georgia staunchly supports freedom of expression, we will not cede control of our campus to groups that refuse to abide by University policy and threaten the safety of those who live, work and study here,” Trevor continued. “The University of Georgia remains an institution where ideas, viewpoints, and scholarship can be openly expressed and debated.”
At least 16 people were arrested, according to Newsweek, though it remains unclear what charges they will face.
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