What to Know
- After 16 days, a Pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia was cleared Friday, May 10, 2024.
- Police arrested protesters who refused to leave and linked their arms around the Ben Franklin statue on College Green.
- The clearing of the Pro-Palestinian protest is just the latest after many actions on college campuses around the country in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Philadelphia Police arrested and removed more than 30 pro-Palestinian protesters as they disbanded their encampment that was on the University of Pennsylvania's campus for more than two weeks.
The officers moved in during the early morning hours before daybreak on Friday, May 10, following rain overnight. NBC10 was live at the scene just after 5:30 a.m. as dozens of police officers on bike and foot moved in and gave the protesters a 2-minute warning to leave the campus or face possible arrests.
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The officers -- many of whom wore tactical gear -- then moved in to form a semi-circle around the encampment and take down several tents. While some of the protesters left, dozens remained in front of the Ben Franklin statue on Penn's college green, refusing to move while chanting and linking arms.
College Green remains restricted
Leaders at the University of Pennsylvania released a statement on Friday to announce why the school removed the encampment and protesters.
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In the statement, leaders at the university also stated that the College Green will remain closed off until further notice and anyone looking to access the area will need to show a student ID, known as a PennCard.
"Our community has been under threat and our campus disrupted for too long. Passion for a cause cannot supersede the safety and operations of our University. Early this morning, we took action, with support from local law enforcement, to remove the encampment. We would like to express our gratitude to the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Police Department for their support. This is an unfortunate but necessary step to prevent violence, restore operations, and return our campus to our community," Unversity interim president Dr. Larry Jackson said in the statement on the school's website. "Under these extraordinary circumstances, and to provide for the safety of our community, access to the College Green area of campus will be restricted until further notice. Those wishing to enter the area will be required to show a valid PennCard. Those without proper identification will be asked to leave and, if necessary, will be escorted off campus, or considered trespassing."
Police officers arrest Pro-Palestinian protesters who refused to leave
About three dozen protesters remained around the Ben Franklin statue and refused to leave. Police then moved in and removed them one at a time, some screamed and chanted as they were led away. However, there appeared to be no violent outbursts.
“Our plan is to stay here and escalate,” said “Rishi,” a Temple student who has been part of the protest and didn’t reveal his full name. “We’re not leaving.”
“This encampment has not caused harm to any single student at all,” he added.
The police officers then began arresting and forcibly removing the protesters, many of whom were wearing keffiyehs, a scarf that symbolizes Palestinian nationalism.
“At approximately 5:30am this morning, Penn Police, with support from the Philadelphia Police Department, took steps to remove the unauthorized encampment on College Green," a Penn spokesperson wrote. "Protestors were given multiple warnings that they were trespassing and offered the opportunity to voluntarily leave and avoid citation. Those who chose to stay did so knowing that they would be arrested and removed."
The spokesperson said police arrested approximately 33 people without incident and cited them for "defiant trespass." Of the 33 people who were arrested, only nine of them were students, according to officials.
A spokesperson for the District Attorney's Office said none of the people who were taken into custody were charged. Instead, they were given civil violation notices and later released.
As of 7 a.m., the majority of the protesters had either left campus or were in police custody. The disbandment action was largely peaceful.
Watch: Police move in on protestors Friday at dawn
Five people, including three Penn faculty members, were briefly detained after they could be seen sitting on the ground to block police vans taking away arrested protesters near 34th and Walnut streets. They were released and later told reporters they were in solidarity with the protesters.
"I am feeling enraged for my students who were taken for standing for justice in Palestine," Sarah, one of the faculty members who did not want to reveal her full name, told NBC10.
Once police cleared the protesters, crews could be seen going through the campsite and removing tents and other equipment.
WATCH: Images show aftermath of Penn encampment
Large fences were bought in to block college Green while crews worked to clear the site. As the tents were broken down as rain started again, the grass could be seen again on College Green.
How did Penn respond to the Pro-Palestinian encampment?
The police action occurred on the 16th day of the encampment and a day after six students were forced into "mandatory temporary leaves of absence" for participating in the protest, according to the University of Pennsylvania.
"Today, the University issued mandatory temporary leaves of absence for six students in accordance with our policies and pending the results of the Center for Community Standards and Accountability disciplinary investigations. These actions are a result of the University’s continuing response to the unauthorized encampment on College Green," the school said in a statement on their site on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the encampment referred to the action as "suspensions" when speaking with NBC10.
One of the groups involved in the encampment, Philly Palestine Coalition, released a statement about the students being banned from campus and explained that two of them are on the negotiating committee and have met with President Larry Jameson and Provost John Jackson.
The statement goes on to say that one student is living on campus and has been locked out of her dorm room meaning they cannot access their belongings.
"We vehemently reject the characterization of students organizing within the Gaza Solidarity Encampment as 'exceptional threats' to campus safety," the organization said in the statement.
Three of the students, including the one locked out of her dorm, reacted to the mandatory leaves of absence while speaking with reporters on Thursday.
"The university cannot ignore us forever. They know what they are doing is wrong and they will have to take action," junior Sonya Stacia said.
Parker administration reacts to the protest and arrests
In a released statement, a spokesperson for Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said Penn first requested help from the Parker Administration in their response to the encampment no Wednesday, May 1.
“From that day on, we were clear throughout that process that Philadelphia Police would provide backup assistance if arrests were made, or if the situation became dangerous or violent,” the spokesperson wrote. “We were also clear that we expected Penn to explore every option to resolve this matter peacefully.”
The spokesperson said Parker made her Chief of Public Safety Adam Geer and City Solicitor Renee Garcia available. The spokesperson also said she worked with District Attorney Larry Krasner to help with the situation. All four city leaders repeatedly reached out to the students involved in the protest as well as Penn administrators and “neutral third parties” who they believed could help with the situation, according to the spokesperson.
"At the same time, to ensure safety in the event an agreement was not reached, Philadelphia Police offered and subsequently provided Civil Disorder Training to Penn Police over the course of three days this week,” the spokesperson wrote. “As is now clear, an agreement was not reached, and the University made the decision to clear the encampment. As such, Penn called, asked for assistance, and Philadelphia Police fulfilled its commitment to provide support. We are thankful that the clearing occurred without violence and express our deep gratitude to the men and women of our Police Department, who provided around the clock assistance to Penn over the last several weeks.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro reacts to prolonged Penn protest
While speaking at an event in Westmoreland County on Thursday, Gov. Josh Shapiro weighed in on the situation saying it is "past time for the university to act, to address this, to disband the encampment and to restore order and safety on campus."
On Friday, Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder released a statement saying the encampment had become "untenable:"
"As Governor Shapiro has made clear multiple times, all Pennsylvanians have a right to peacefully protest and make their voices heard. The Governor has also made clear that universities have a legal responsibility to keep their students safe and free from discrimination.
"Unfortunately, the situation at Penn reached an untenable point – and as the University stated publicly, the encampment was in violation of university policy, campus was being disrupted, and threatening, discriminatory speech and behavior were increasing. After Penn's weeks-long efforts to engage protestors were met with further escalation, today, the University of Pennsylvania's leadership made the right decision to dismantle the encampment."
Shapiro's spokesman concluded by saying: "We thank the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Police Department, and University of Pennsylvania Police Department for their professional work to resolve the situation quickly and peacefully."
Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses around the country
The protest was one of many that occurred at college campuses across the country that unfolded over the past few weeks as many called for a cease-fire in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas War that began after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israelis.
The Penn protesters, which include students from UPenn but also Drexel and Temple universities, also called on their schools to divest from all financial support of Israel.
Divestment usually refers to selling shares in companies doing business with a given country. Divestment has long been a goal of a movement that seeks to limit what it considers hostile operations by Israel and an end to expanding what the United Nations has ruled are illegal settlements in Palestinian territory.
The college protesters hoped to force their universities to divest to put financial pressure on companies doing business in Israel to meet those two objectives.
Protesters told NBC10 they wanted to keep things peaceful as well but would not leaving until their demands were met by the university.
Police dismantled a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology early Friday and moved to clear protesters from Penn's campus in Philadelphia, hours after police tear-gassed protesters and took down an encampment at the University of Arizona.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, video showed police roaming through the MIT encampment and organizers said about 10 students had been detained. Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but were dispersed by 6 a.m.
At the University of Arizona in Tucson, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas late Thursday at protesters before tearing down an encampment that included wood and plastic barriers on campus. In statement, the University of Arizona said it made the decision because the encampment violated school policy.
“A structure made from wooden pallets and other debris was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. in violation of the policy,” the school said in a statement. “University officials issued warnings to remove the encampment and disperse. The warnings were ignored.”
The school also said that police vehicles were spiked, and rocks and water bottles thrown at officers and university staff.
No tear gas appeared to be fired while the Penn encampment was cleared.
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