Posted on 04/27/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
At least 23 people were arrested on Saturday for resisting law enforcement after officers responded to a pro-Palestinian Arab encampment at Indiana University.
Indiana State Police and the Indiana University Police Department responded to an encampment at Dunn Meadow on Saturday at approximately 12:20 p.m. local time, Fox 59 reported, citing a press release from the Indiana University Public Safety Department.
The release said that officers gave a series of six verbal warnings to remove the structures. At approximately 12:35 p.m., individuals who refused to remove structures from university property were detained and removed.
“After numerous written and verbal communications that free speech and protest are permissible but the presence of unapproved temporary or permanent structures violates university policy, a group of individuals erected numerous tents and canopies on Friday night with the stated intention to occupy the university space indefinitely,” said IU Public Information Officer, Hannah Skibba.
Officers transported 23 individuals to the Monroe County Justice Center for charges ranging from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement, according to Fox 59.
On Thursday, at least 33 people were detained on Indiana University’s campus following a protest in which demonstrators called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Indiana University Police and Indiana State Police warned the individuals protesting “numerous times” on Thursday morning and afternoon to remove their structures and they would be allowed to stay, said a statement from the Indiana University Police Department.
“Following their refusal to comply with university policy, the group was advised to leave the area,” police said.
Anti-Israel protests, which have at times turned violent, have been recorded on campuses throughout the US in recent days.
Last Monday, at least 45 pro-Palestinian Arab protesters were arrested at Yale University after police in riot gear stormed the campus during a protest.
Two days earlier, as the protest was ongoing, a Jewish Yale student journalist was stabbed in the eye with a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag.
Last week, more than 100 people were arrested by New York Police Department officers on a preliminary charge of criminal trespass, as police entered Columbia University to disperse a pro-Palestinian Arab protest that began a day earlier.