‘We’re not going to stop’: Protests continue at the University of Minnesota campus
Updated: 6:59 p.m.
A University of Minnesota student protest was cleared late Tuesday night for the second time in a day, but protesters picked back up on Wednesday.
Students had set up tents and yurts on campus in front of Coffman Memorial Union, calling on the school to end any investments tied to the Israeli military. More than 300 people staged a walkout Tuesday afternoon.
According to organizers and videos posted on social media, law enforcement arrived at the protest encampment late Tuesday night. An earlier encampment was cleared Tuesday morning; nine protesters were arrested.
Organizers said they set up the first encampment at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Soon after 7 a.m., a livestream video showed police detaining some of those who had been in the encampment and removing tents.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
The protests continued on Wednesday. “When Palestine is under attack what we do? Stand up fight back!” echoed through Coffman Memorial Union.
Adam Abu was one of the organizers and said the protesters are hoping to get the word out that they aren’t giving up, and they want the U to meet their demands.
“At this point, we’re planning to stay until something happens until some major change happens,” Abu said. “Either they release their statements, or they make some sort of statement in support for Palestine, for example. So we’re not going to stop until we see some sort of change on campus. Because, as of now, nothing’s happening, you know, and we’re gonna stay until something happens.”
Protesters also held a “die-in” where people laid on the ground, acting like they are dead and then another person read the names of those killed in Gaza.
Abu says that communication from the U has been “close to zero.”
“There’s a lot of discrimination when it comes to the Palestine issue,” Abu said. “And they claim to be diverse and inclusive and equitable and all that stuff but when it comes to this issue, the communication is almost zero.”
In a statement, the university said the students were violating campus policy and state law, which prevent tents and other encampment arrangements on university property without a permit. However, the university says it supports students and faculty expressing their views.
MPR News reached out to the U on comments to the students demands on Wednesday afternoon and did not receive a response prior to publication.
Students at universities around the country have started similar encampments after more than 100 people were arrested at a protest at Columbia University in New York.
Campus protests began after Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel, when militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. During the ensuing war, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and noncombatants, but says at least two-thirds of the dead are children and women.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.