Michigan State University police arrested 19 pro-Palestine protesters who occupied the first floor of the Hannah Administration Building for more than two hours after the building closed Thursday night.
The protest was organized by members of the MSU Hurriya Coalition, which is asking the university to divest from financial holdings in Israel. It was timed to coincide with a meeting between some coalition members and university leaders; the coalition has been calling for a public town hall to address the university’s investments, but leaders refused and scheduled the private meeting instead.
Eli Folts, who helped organize the rally and was one of the individuals arrested, said the coalition wanted to protest because “we’re tired of the runaround.”
“We really just wish they would act in good faith,” Folts said. “They have not shown us that, a single sliver of that.”
After about an hour, students who attended the meeting returned to the first floor and told the protesters that while small gains were made, the university was unwilling to make what they would consider meaningful concessions.
Unsatisfied with the outcome, protesters began marching laps around the building while continuing to chant and sing protest songs.
MSU police gave protesters three warnings before officers began making arrests. Police Chief Mike Yankowski says they were each offered a final opportunity to leave the building before being arrested.
“Each one of those 19 individuals said personally to the police officer, ‘No, I will not leave,’” Yankowski said.
But outside of the failure to leave the property, Yankowski said the protesters complied with orders.
“There was no use of force used. Everyone was compliant,” Yankowski said. “They were handcuffed. There was no resistance.”
The individuals arrested were each issued a citation for a low-level misdemeanor.
The protest came a day before a meeting of the MSU Board of Trustees. In a press conference on Friday, Board Chair Kelly Tebay said that while “it’s very important for our students’ voices to be heard,” the university has rules, like when buildings are open to the public, “and those rules need to be enforced.”
While student activists said the university was unwilling to make concessions, President Kevin Guskiewicz said that “I think we’ll be able to make some progress on” some of the requests expressed by the coalition.
During the Board of Trustees meeting, Trustee Mike Balow encouraged everyone to “lower the temperature” and “deal with each other on a very human level.”
“Incremental progress towards understanding should never be discounted at all,” Balow said. “As long as we’re talking and discussing the issues of the day, under the flag that flies out front that guarantees our right for free speech and which many people have died for, we’re going to get to the right place.”
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.