A pro-Palestinian protest at Stanford University escalated dramatically on Wednesday, resulting in significant vandalism and multiple arrests after demonstrators occupied the university president's office.
On Wednesday, pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Stanford University's president's office, leaving "extensive damage" in their wake. The demonstrators defaced the walls with anti-Israel and anti-police slogans and vandalized a memorial to university war veterans with graffiti reading "**** AmeriKKKa," Newsweek reported.
More than a dozen demonstrators were arrested after barricading themselves in the office of university president Richard Saller. According to a statement from the group, they vowed to "remain inside the building and are refusing to leave until their demands are met." They were protesting what they described as the university's refusal to engage with a campus encampment demanding divestment from companies tied to Israel.
The Stanford Daily reported that protesters painted "Our office now" on a window and chanted, "Palestine will be free; we will free Palestine." About 50 students, mostly dressed in black and with their faces wrapped in kaffiyehs, linked arms and surrounded the building in solidarity with the occupying students.
The university's historic main quad was spray-painted with slogans including "DE@TH 2 ISR@HELL," "Kill cops," and "PIGS TASTE BEST DEAD," with the vandalism images circulating widely on social media.
The occupation, intended to last until their demands were met, was cleared by police within three hours. One police officer had to be removed from the building on a stretcher, according to eyewitnesses.
Stanford University plans to immediately suspend at least 13 students involved in the protests who were arrested Wednesday morning after the brief occupation of the president's office, the Hastings Tribune reported.
Stanford spokesperson Dee Mostofi confirmed that the protesters had inflicted "extensive damage" to both the interior and the exterior of Building 10, which houses the president's office and other administrative facilities.
The Liberate Stanford organizers condemned some activists, accusing them of unilaterally deciding to vandalize the buildings. "These are not the principles we abide by, and these actions are disrespectful to the souls of the Palestinians who passed in their just struggle," Liberate Stanford wrote.
This occupation follows months of protests and negotiations between Stanford officials and pro-Palestinian activists and is part of a series of nationwide demonstrations that began at Columbia University in New York City two months ago. Students have been demanding that their universities divest from companies linked to Israel over its military actions in Gaza.
The war in Gaza followed a deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, last year, in which militants killed approximately 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has since resulted in the deaths of more than 36,000 people, according to recent figures from the Hamas-run local health ministry.
Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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