Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment early Wednesday at Tulane University and arrested 14 protesters who the school said took part in a two-day “unlawful occupation” of the lawn outside of Gibson Hall.
Fourteen protesters were arrested, including two Tulane students, the university said.
Those arrests added to the previous six arrests on Monday, which included one student.
Tulane has spent the last two days coordinating the Wednesday morning clearing with the New Orleans Police Department and Louisiana State Police. The school said it acted “with the goal of keeping the protestors and our community safe while returning our campus to normal operations.”
“Free speech and the freedom to protest are sacred to us,” President Mike Fitts, Provost Robin Forman and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Norton said in a statement. “We remain opposed to trespassing, hate speech, antisemitism and bias against religious or ethnic groups. Harassment, intimidation, violence, and other criminal acts on any of our campuses are not acceptable. Organizers of protests need to know we will not tolerate these things.”
The university and police on scene offered several warnings to protesters that they were trespassing, including a large electronic sign the school wheeled onto the lawn Tuesday afternoon.
Police moved into the encampment before dawn on Wednesday. Some officers carried weapons but it was not immediately clear if police were armed with non-lethal crowd control tools or lethal firearms.
Videos and images show dozens of officers in riot gear lined behind the encampment and across St. Charles Avenue early Wednesday morning.
The officers mass in a line, then begin moving toward the encampment, video shows. They then handcuffed protesters with zip ties and loaded some into Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office vans.
Following the arrests, NOPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick spoke to WWL-TV. “We wanted people to be able to have voice, and yet not create a violation of the law,” Kirkpatrick said regarding why the removal of the encampment took two days. “We wanted to give them an opportunity to peacefully remove themselves and not violate the rights of others as well.”
The encampment began Monday evening when protesters marched to Gibson Hall and began pitching tents.
Tulane Students for a Democratic Society, an organization that was suspended Tuesday for its role in the encampment, posted early Wednesday morning showing the arrests. The post showed state police approaching students as they chanted, “dare to struggle, dare to win.”
Tulane SDS also posted resources for people to demand the release of the arrested protesters.
Kirkpatrick said the police had videos of all events during the arrest and removal of the encampment. She said the NOPD will use these videos to look into “all complaints associated with injury.”
Stella Cziment, the independent police monitor of New Orleans, spoke to WWL-TV regarding why some protesters were arrested after they reached public property. “Just because you’ve exited private property and then you’re being arrested on public property doesn’t mean you weren’t previously on private property,” she said.
“We will be looking at every action taken to ensure that it all matches NOPD’s policy and to determine what actions were taken by what agencies,” Cziment said. “We have been given full access to this scene to be able to monitor as we wanted to monitor.”
Police arrested six people that night, and the scene had remained largely devoid of police conflict since. Protesters fortified the encampment of 10 tents with a circle of wood pallets and vowed they would remain there until their arrest or until Tulane and Loyola University met their demands of disclosing investments in Israeli corporations and divesting from them.
Gov. Jeff Landry released a statement Tuesday regarding the clearing of the encampment.
“My appreciation goes out to Tulane President Michael Fitts, the Tulane Police Department, Tulane Police Chief Frank Young, New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Louisiana State Police for safely clearing the Tulane campus of those who sought to illegally occupy the campus!” he said. “Many colleges across our country may allow this lawlessness, but Louisiana will NOT. This State will not tolerate those who seek to disturb the peace by means of criminality.”
Tulane said it referred all students who participated in the protest to the student conduct office for “immediate disciplinary action.” The school did not say how many students were involved.
Seven students have been suspended, Tulane said. Campus leaders also said the university is looking into reports of employees participating in the demonstration but did not provide more details. The school warned faculty who joined the protest could face discipline or termination.
Authorities cleared the encampment by 6 a.m. Police remain at the scene as of 7 a.m., and metal barricades currently block the grass lawn from St. Charles Avenue.
Gibson, Tilton Memorial and Dinwiddie Hall will remain closed until Thursday. Classes in those buildings will be held online on Wednesday. The campus will return to normal operations Thursday heading into finals week, according to a statement Tulane sent later Wednesday morning.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Leave a Comment