11 arrested in pro-BDS occupation, barricade of University of Minnesota administrative building
Eleven anti-Israel protesters were arrested on Monday at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities after attempting to occupy an administrative building.
Led by the school's Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter, the demonstrators demanded that the university divest from Israel.
Eleven anti-Israel protesters were arrested on Monday at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities after occupying and barricading an administrative building.
Led by the school’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter, the demonstrators demanded that the university divest from defense contractors who work with Israel.
Let’s check in on the University of Minnesota shall we?
“Students take Morrill Hall at the UofM, now renamed Halimy Hall”
Here we go. pic.twitter.com/PT8zo7bLsG— Angela Van Der Pluym (@anjewla90) October 21, 2024
”Once inside [Morrill Hall], protesters began spray painting, including covering lenses of all internal security cameras, breaking interior windows, and barricading the building’s entrance and exit points,” the university said in a statement later that day. “The full extent of the damage is unknown. A number of staff were working in the building at the time, and several people were not able to exit, with some being unable to exit the building for an extended period of time.”
The university noted that no additional information about the 11 arrested protesters or property damage could be provided, but that an investigation is ongoing.
At about an hour before the protest began, the UMN SDS chapter took to X calling upon students to join the demonstration.
SUPPORT STUDENTS OCCUPYING MORRILL HALL
Morrill Hall - 100 Church St SE.
Join the Telegram - https://t.co/4l0zgilCyC pic.twitter.com/I9NSzaCH8d— UMN SDS (@UMNSDS) October 21, 2024
”After a year of the genocide in Palestine, 76 years of occupation, the continuation of our universities complicity in it, and administrations continuation to ignore our demands this is the only way forward,” the group wrote. “The people inside will not leave until our demands are met or they are forcibly removed.”
Included in the SDS chapter’s “demands” were “end institutional ‘neutrality,’” “economic divestment from Israel,” “academic divestment from Israel,” “First Amendment rights, amenesty, and academic freedoms,” and a “call for an end to [U.S.] aid to Israel and stand in complete solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
In August, the university’s board of regents rejected calls for divestment from the Jewish state.
”Last spring, the Board received requests to divest from Israeli companies or companies that do business in Israel,” the regents said in an Aug. 27 statement. “Community feedback since that time has both supported and opposed divestment. The Board’s action formally declines the request to divest from Israel-related investments.”
In June, then-Interim President Jeff Ettinger admitted to signing a document that featured an Arabic reference to “Hamas’ foundational mission to exterminate Jews in Israel.” Ettinger later called the signing of the document a “mistake.”
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Minnesota Twin Cities for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.