Students at the University of Minnesota stormed the school’s main administrative building, Morrill Hall, on Monday, demanding divestment from Israel. The school’s board of regents voted against such a measure over the summer.
The groups involved in this action read like a who’s who of the radical left: Students for Democratic Society (SDS), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and Young Democratic-Socialists of America (YDSA). Arrests were eventually made.
The Minnesota Daily reports:
Pro-Palestine Protesters occupy administration building, arrestedPolice arrested roughly 11 pro-Palestine protesters who occupied and barricaded a University of Minnesota administration building early Monday evening. A Minnesota Daily reporter wearing a press vest was also briefly detained.University of Minnesota police and Hennepin County officers came through the building’s east entrance at about 5:45 p.m. A crowd of protesters had congregated outside the building’s west entrance, by Northrop Mall.A SAFE-U emergency alert at 4:40 p.m. said protesters restricted access to the building and damaged University property, advising those still within Morrill Hall to safely exit the building if possible.Protesters barricaded the building with metal tables and chairs, bike racks, wooden pallets and locked the doors with bike locks around 4 p.m. after marching from a rally outside Coffman Memorial Union…Members of the University’s Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapter organized the demonstration, protesting the University’s protest policies and investments in Israel and arms companies…The University reached an agreement in May with the University of Minnesota Divestment Coalition, consisting of SDS, Young Democratic-Socialists of America (YDSA) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) to disclose its investments in Israel. The University recently committed to sponsor tuition for three Gazan students in the spring semester.
More from CBS News:
The protest is organized by the group UMN Students for a Democratic Society, which is calling on the university to divest from companies that support Israel — which the Board of Regents declined to do in August following weeks of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus.Officials say the protesters are “causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building,” and they’re advising people inside to “safely exit” the premises immediately if possible.
Here’s a local video report:
The police finally moved in.
The students who are doing this at this school and others are disrupting campus and imposing chaos on all the other students who are trying to study and get an education. It is way past time to begin expelling people.
Featured image via YouTube.
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