41 anti- Israel student activists arrested in latest Brown divestment 'sit-in'
Led by the leftist Brown Divest Coalition, the students were reportedly arrested in University Hall around 6 p.m. on the evening of Dec. 11, an hour after the building closed.
The group claims it 'cannot stay silent' as as a result of the university's 'continued refusal to divest from the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.'
41 students at Brown University were recently arrested for an unlawful “sit-in” that demanded divestment from corporations with ties to Israel.
Led by the leftist Brown Divest Coalition, the students were reportedly arrested in University Hall around 6 p.m. on the evening of Dec. 11, an hour after the building closed. The sit-in, which began at 9 a.m., lasted nine hours before the students underwent bookings inside the building.
[RELATED: Pro-Palestine activists occupy UMich building demanding divestments from Israel]
In addition to the activists inside University Hall, more than 200 other students were “singing, chanting, [and] holding homemade signs” in support of Palestine, according to The Providence Journal.
”It’s essential to highlight that arresting students is not an action that Brown takes lightly, and it’s not something the University ever wants to do,” Brown spokesman Brian Clark said to The Providence Journal. “The students were informed that staying in the building after business hours poses security concerns.”
Clark also stated, “The disruption to secure buildings is not acceptable, and the University is prepared to escalate the level of criminal charges for future incidents of students occupying secure buildings.”
The Brown Divest Coalition claims it “cannot stay silent” as as a result of the university’s “continued refusal to divest from the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
The student activists demanded that the university also divest from various big defense contractors like Boeing and Raytheon for their alleged support of the “Israeli occupation of Palestine.”
This is not the first time that students have been arrested for illicitly protesting at Brown after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. On Nov. 8, 20 students were arrested for a similar divestment sit-in at University Hall, which the school has since dropped the charges for.
Campus Reform has contacted the Brown Divest Coalition, Brown Students for Justice in Palestine, BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now, and Brown University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
