Pro-Palestine Cornell students and employees trespass on university property after hours, get arrested
Cornell students and university employees protested in favor of the school divesting from companies with ties to Israel, and asserted that ‘Cornell is complicit in the deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians.’
Twenty-four students and school employees were arrested for trespassing on school property after hours, despite several warnings not to do so.
Twenty-four pro-Palestine protestors held an anti-Israel sit-in demonstration at Cornell University on March 21, pressuring university leadership to advocate for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and to divest from defense companies with ties to Israel, according to Ithaca.com.
The 24 protestors included 22 students and 2 university employees, according to an official university announcement issued the day of the protest.
A member of the Coalition for Mutual Liberation, which organized the protest, said: “Cornell is complicit in the deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians through its investments in companies that produce the weaponry for Israel’s reprehensible campaign: including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, BAE Systems, L3Harris, RTX, Leonardo, Elbit Systems and ThyssenKrupp.”
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The students, who protested inside Cornell’s Day Hall, were met by two Cornell Trustees who “listened to the group’s demands” and “explained that while the demands would not be met, they were willing to share the demonstrators’ concerns with their fellow board members,” according to Cornell’s statement.
The Trustees warned the protestors that they could not remain in Day Hall after hours, as this would “lead to arrest and referral to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards (OSCCS) for students, and to Human Resources for employees,” the statement continued.
“Demonstrators remained in Day Hall despite repeated warnings from campus staff and Cornell Police that the building was closed. Twenty-two students were referred to OSCCS for violating the Student Code of Conduct and two employees were referred to Human Resources for violating university policy. All 24 were charged with trespassing and referred to the Ithaca City Court,” the statement said.
[RELATED: Cornell student gov rejects bill pushing for Israel divestment]
“Citing campus community members is only used as a last resort . . . Protests must comply with time, place, and manner guidelines, and the university cannot permit expressive activity by campus community members that violates campus policies. Trespassing after-hours in buildings that are closed to the public poses a public safety risk that cannot be tolerated,” the statement concluded.
Campus Reform has contacted Cornell University and the Cornell Coalition for Mutual Liberation for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
