Abi Hilden, executive editor

On Monday, Oct. 21, University of Minnesota (UMN) Police, with support from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, arrested 11 pro-Palestine protesters who attempted to occupy Morrill Hall, the university’s administrative headquarters. According to the Minnesota Daily, UMN’s student newspaper, the protest was organized by the university’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Protesters barricaded themselves in the building around 4 p.m. on Oct. 21 following a march from a rally held outside of Coffman Union. According to the Star Tribune, several hundred protesters gathered to march and rally. Arrests were made after students covered windows and staircases with mailers and green tarps, including a banner outside the building renaming it to “Halimy Hall.” This name came from Palestinian TikTok creator Medo Halimy who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in August as reported by the Minnesota Daily. According to MPR News, SDS chose Morrill Hall due to its history. In 1969, UMN students occupied the building for 24 hours as part of the Civil Rights Movement. This occupation led to the creation of UMN’s African-American and African Studies department.

In an Instagram post on their account, SDS originally intended to focus the protest on “No homecoming as usual” with UMN’s homecoming festivities beginning on Oct. 21. However, this was later changed to highlight the conditions in Northern Gaza, as reported by the Minnesota Daily. According to MPR News, another reason for the protest was UMN’s updated protesting guidelines from this summer. These guidelines include but are not limited to prohibiting the use of more than one bullhorn, limiting protests to 100 participants and protests must end by 10 p.m. Violating these guidelines can result in immediate suspension and arrests.

These guidelines came in response to protests that took place on UMN’s campus in April, where students took part in a national movement to create protest encampments on their college campuses according to MPR News. A deal was struck for the encampment to end and UMN to disclose their investments in Israel in May, which they did a week after the encampment ended. However, as reported by CBS News, the UMN Board of Regents declined to divest from pro-Israel companies in a vote in August, spurring further protests. SDS Media Representative Juliet Murphy said in a quote to MPR News that “over the summer and through the semester, it’s become abundantly [clear] that they do not consider (divestment) to be a priority.” Murphy also stated to MPR News on the protests, “And I think we’re kind of calling [the University of Minnesota] out at this point and saying, ‘You have always taught us that we should stand up for what we believe in, we should be the motivators for change, but yet, when it no longer benefits you, it doesn’t seem like you really want to continue having those conversations. It doesn’t seem like you really care about listening to your diverse student body.’”

This sentiment was echoed by Augsburg Political Science Professor Sarah Combellick-Bidney in an interview with the Echo. When asked about institutional policies limiting student activism on campus, Combellick-Bidney said, “When universities attempt to limit the advocacy of students, they are violating the students’ rights to free speech. They believe they will get away with it, but they can be challenged by students, professors, and anyone who has a stake in having a free society. […] In the case of the encampment and protests at the U, we are talking about students who are legal adults engaging in political speech, which is constitutionally protected. Universities should be actively educating students about their rights, not trying to take them away.”

One notable part of the information about the protest on Oct. 21 is the conflicting details of what exactly occurred from the different perspectives of UMN and SDS. According to a statement from UMN regarding the events of the protest, “A number of staff were working in the building at the time, and several people were not able to exit, with some being unable to exit the building for an extended period of time.” University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham, whose office among other administrators’ offices are located in Morrill Hall, released her own statement Tuesday morning echoing this information. On the other hand, the Star Tribune reported that students claimed to have escorted administrators out of the building prior to the blocking of the entrances. MPR News also reported that the SDS stated that it was not restricting entering or exiting of the building, allowing employees to move freely.

UMN’s statement also spoke on the use of police to “ensure the safety of U of M employees in the building who were unable to exit, and in light of property damage sustained to the building.” According to their statement, protesters spray painted inside the building, including covering the lenses of all of the security cameras inside. They also broke interior windows and the full extent of the damage is unknown. In a quote to the Sahan Journal, Murphy stated that the property damage “wasn’t done just to destroy things. It was done to protect students.”

The University’s statement was criticized in a statement released by the UMN Divest Coalition on Instagram, a group which SDS is a member of. They stated, “As comrades in the fight for Palestinian liberation and divestment, we commend [the arrested students’] sacrifice and we condemn the University’s response.”

According to the Sahan Journal, eight of those arrested are current students and three are former students. AP News reported that the protesters were held in the Hennepin County Jail for around 36 hours before being released on the afternoon of Oct. 23. Their release came after an additional protest of around a dozen people in front of the jail on the morning of Oct. 22. 

The arrests themselves were aggressive according to the protesters and images of the arrests from press. Celia Nimz, one of the arrested protesters, spoke to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization after being released. In an Instagram reel, Nimz stated “We were arrested violently. […] police came in and pointed weapons at our faces and threw us all on the ground, told us to ‘Get the f*** on the ground,’ dogpiling us and handcuffing us and lining us up against the wall.” SDS Member Sasmit Rahman said in a quote to Sahan Journal, “I know they came in with riot gear, with their batons. I think there absolutely was the intent to seriously hurt our protesters if they didn’t comply.”

While one protester was charged with fourth-degree assault, the other 10 have had their charges deferred as the investigation is ongoing, according to AP News. According to Sahan Journal, SDS is working to obtain legal representation for all who were arrested.