11 Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators are Arrested After Occupying Building at University of Minnesota

(AP)-Police arrested about a dozen pro-Palestinian  demonstrators Monday at the University of Minnesota after a group of students entered an administrative building, university officials said.

The Monday afternoon protest prompted an alert from school officials. “Protestors have entered Morrill Hall on the East Bank, causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building,” the alert said. “If you are currently in Morrill Hall and able to safely exit the building, please do so immediately. Others are advised to avoid this area until further notice.”

Ryan Mattson, a media liaison with the university’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, said some protesters who were inside the building were arrested. He did not initially know how many were arrested, but university officials released a statement saying 11 people were taken into custody less than two hours after they entered Morrill Hall.

Merlin Van Alstein, an organizer with the group, earlier said about 30 protesters occupied Morrill Hall, while a larger group gathered outside.

The group renamed the building “Halimy Hall,” in remembrance of 19-year-old Palestinian TikTok content creator Medo Halimy, who died in August in an apparent Israeli airstrike. The Israeli military said it was not aware of the strike that killed Halimy.

The protesters were equipped with tents and supplies, and said they planned to stay until their demands are met. They were demanding that the university divest from Israel and repeal its political neutrality agreement. Video posted online showed chairs and other patio furniture stacked in front of an exterior window of the building.

“We plan to stay until they forcibly remove us,” Van Alstein said before the arrests. “The people inside aren’t going to leave until they meet our demands or they are forced to leave.”

The university said that once inside the building, protesters covered lenses of internal security cameras with spray paint, broke some interior windows, and barricaded entrances and exits.

Earlier Monday afternoon, the group shared a video to Facebook of a speaker’s announcement that its members were occupying the building but not restricting anyone from exiting or entering.

The speaker appeared in front of a large sign reading, “Money for education, not for bombs & occupation.” Other campus protests around the U.S. in response to the Israel-Hamas war have included the divestmentcall.

The protests, including earlier this year at University of Minnesota campuses, raised issues of free speech and antisemitism as students demanded that their universities cease doing business with Israel or companies they said supported the war in Gaza.

The university’s homecoming week began Monday.