Crowd of nearly 100 show support for pro-Hamas activists outside New Haven courthouse
A crowd of almost 100 people gathered outside of a New Haven courthouse to protest the charges against several demonstrators who were arrested during a recent anti-Israel encampment at Yale University.
On the morning of Aug. 28, 14 people were arrested by the Yale Police for criminal trespassing as part of a pro-Hamas encampment located at Beinecke Plaza on the university campus.
A crowd of almost 100 people gathered outside of a New Haven, Connecticut courthouse to protest the charges against several demonstrators who were arrested during a recent anti-Israel encampment at Yale University.
As noted by the Connecticut Post, those arrested said they stand in solidarity with others who were arrested during similar protests, including one at a University of Connecticut encampment.
On the morning of Aug. 28, 14 people were arrested by the Yale Police for criminal trespassing as part of a pro-Hamas encampment located at Beinecke Plaza on the university campus. The activists called for the school to divest funding from defense contractors that were selling or supplying weapons to Israel.
[RELATED: Anti-Israel protests resume at GWU as students demand university divestment from Israel]
As the group of 14 walked into the New Haven Courthouse, protesters outside reportedly cheered, clapped and chanted along with a drumbeat, while also holding signs calling for their charges to be dropped.
All of the defendants’ cases will reportedly be continued on Oct. 31.
“We refuse to operate under any illusion that the American legal system upholds justice,” said the arrestees’ in a statement. “But we will not be distracted. Our eyes remain on Gaza.”
The defendants also claimed that the charges brought against them are part of an effort to distract the public from Israel’s “genocide.”
“On Yale’s orders, we were arrested and charged,” said recent Yale graduate Melinda Joseph in a statement, according to the Connecticut Post. “At Yale’s request, the state’s attorney is prosecuting our anti-genocide activism.”
According to the Yale Daily News, Yale anti-Israel activists have been critical of the recent hire of Maurie McInnis as president due to her willingness to punish pro-Hamas lawbreakers.
Before her appointment at Yale, McInnis was the President of Stony Brook University. In May, she approved the decision to disband an anti-Israel encampment, which led to the arrest of over 20 students, two faculty, and five individuals who weren’t affiliated with the university.
Campus Reform has contacted Yale University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
