The MSU Gaza solidarity encampment largely dismantled its outdoor protest and moved into a university building Friday evening.
About 50 protesters had moved their demonstration from the People’s Park, which was first set up early Thursday morning, packing up their tents, coolers and banners and taking them to the on-campus International Center building.
Protesters said the decision was due to inclement weather. As night fell, only one tent remained in the encampment.
“People are underprepared on a safety level,” said Estrada White, an MSU junior who is helping to organize the protest. “We are concerned. We don’t want anybody to be hit by a branch and get hurt.”
The group of student protestors, faculty and community members, including families with young children, had taken over the main lobby of the International Center and a large conference room in the building.
An MSU police sergeant had contacted the group by 9:50 p.m. and was seen speaking with protest organizers.
The group distributed jail release forms in the event individuals get arrested, allowing protesters to exchange names, emergency contacts and snack preferences.
Protest organizers say the decision to move the protest indoors was agreed upon with MSU.
“The university has contacted us earlier and said that the building was open for our use but only if the thunderstorm started,” said Estrada White.
MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant says she was unaware of any agreed upon arrangement.
“All I’ve ascertained so far is that there were conversations today between the university and the protestors to watch the weather, discussing the use of buildings if the weather hit, especially if it became dangerous, " Guerrant said in a phone interview with WKAR.
The National Weather Service issued a hazardous outlook for much of mid-Michigan Friday evening but noted severe weather was not expected. Rain had not fallen at the time the protesters moved indoors.
Guerrant says because the encampment group only received a permit for People’s Park, students who sleep in the building overnight could be in violation of school policy.
“What their permit approves is for them to be in the outside area that they indicated on their application,” Guerrant said.
The 40-hour protest at the encampment featured tributes to former MSU fellow Tariq Thabet, a Fulbright Scholar who was killed in an Israeli airstrike at the onset of the war in Gaza. Others led teach-ins about Israeli-Palestinian relations and shared meals.
Earlier on Friday, students staged a cap and gown march at the MSU Pavilion, where graduation ceremonies usually take place. Students chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and accused MSU of supporting a genocide through investments associated with Israel.
