More than 50 pro-Hamas militants occupy the California State Polytechnic State University building in Humboldt, leaving the school temporary closed As a safety measure.
Around 4:30 pm on Tuesday, a crowd of students entered Siemens Hall carrying sleeping bags and other food, apparently intending to take over the building. According to an Instagram account called Humboldt for Palestine, the activists reportedly made five demands: 1) that the school acknowledge any ties to “Zionist entities”; and 2) that the school acknowledge “Israeli universities” 3)) withdraw from Israel and “companies that are complicit in the occupation of Palestine”; 4) agree not to sue or “attack” “student organizers”; ) Truce.
Ryan Connelly, a junior biology major, identifies himself as the group’s spokesperson. north coast journalsummed up the group’s goal more succinctly: “Let’s stop investing and then let’s talk.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies were brought to campus to end the Siemens Hall occupation, with video showing violent clashes between police and foul-mouthed protesters.
“We’re not afraid of you!” and “Fuck you out!” protesters chanted at various times.
Despite police efforts, the occupiers managed to withstand attempts to evict them from the building. Andy Go reported that they resorted to “beating”.[ing] and assault[ing]” Officers withdrew from the area Tuesday around 10:30 p.m.
Police have said they have made a total of three arrests so far in connection with the campus occupation, but jail records confirm that only one person was arrested for breaking or occupying a building without the owner’s consent. Only one person was arrested on suspicion of resisting, the North Coast Journal reported. An independent review of prison records showed the arrestee identified by the NCJ is a 46-year-old woman.
Due to the disturbance in the building and other “safety hazards” posed by the demonstrations, the school decided to lock down its campus until at least Wednesday. press release said Humboldt, a Cal Poly alumnus. Lecturers and professors who are able to conduct classes and other campus activities remotely will reportedly do so.
We will contact you individually if you need to come to campus for work. Otherwise, all employees “will have their key cards inoperable,” the press release states.
“Significant world events and crises often hit close to home for members of our campus and community,” the press release continued. “The university supports free speech through respectful and constructive open dialogue, but does not tolerate endangering people, destroying property, or disrupting campus.
“As a community, we are committed to keeping our students, staff, and faculty safe and promoting a learning and working environment where our campus community feels safe, included, and respected. ”
Meanwhile, students sympathetic to the activists who shut down the campus in the name of a faction on the other side of the world are bringing fruit, oatmeal, hot coffee and other items into the building, and the conflict could continue until its end. is high. Occupier’s demands are met.
Dave Meserve, who NCJ described as a “former Arcata City Councilman and longtime local activist,” similarly did not condemn the apparently violent occupation of state buildings. Instead, he condemned the “excessive” use of force by police. “There were at least 30 police officers, maybe more, and helicopters circling overhead,” he lamented.
“It seemed like an overreaction to what was going on.”
The alleged violence at Cal Poly comes on the heels of other acts of violence by pro-Hamas activists on campuses across the country. The University of California canceled in-person classes for just one day, while Columbia University canceled in-person classes for the remainder of the semester due to a similar campus occupation by pro-Hamas groups.
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