UNC System campus police officers and other law enforcement agencies arrested students and community members at the Gaza Solidarity Encampment site for UNC-Chapel Hill early Tuesday morning, with the university later saying around 36 were detained by police.
Shortly after 6 a.m., more than two dozen police officers approached the encampment site at Polk Place and began arresting demonstrators on the orders of UNC leadership — after Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens shared a release at 5:37 a.m. warning the group to disperse or they would face punishment.
The university release said the group broke university policy, not just by having tents assembled in Polk Place but also that members of the protest had trespassed into university buildings overnight. Both UNC Students for Justice in Palestine — the organizing group for the encampment, which advocates for UNC to end any financial ties with companies would benefit from the war in Gaza — and the university acknowledged that happened on Sunday.
“This group has now made it clear they will no longer even consider our requests to abide by University policies and have ended our attempts at constructive dialogue,” Roberts and Clemens’ statement said. “We must consider the safety of all of our students, faculty and staff, as well as visitors to this campus. Our students are preparing for final exams and end-of-year activities, including graduation, and we will continue to promote an educational environment where they can do so safely and without disruption.”
The university administration’s statement said those who did not remove the tents and all other items from Polk Place by 6 a.m. would face possible arrests, suspension from campus, and expulsion from the university. According to UNC Media Relations on Tuesday afternoon, six people were arrested and taken to the Orange County Detention Center were they were charged with trespassing. Those six, three of which were UNC students, were released on a written promise to appear. The remaining 30 people were cited for trespassing and released on-site, according to UNC — 13 of which were students of the Chapel Hill flagship university.
A UNC campus police officer drags students away to clear the pathway for the police carts in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. The carts contained students who were arrested for trespassing on campus grounds due to the solidarity encampment. (Photo via Jennifer Tran.)
A screenshot from the UNC Students for Justice in Palestine Instagram story, which claimed all of the students in the “inner encampment” were arrested by 7 a.m. on Tuesday.
Read the full statement from Roberts and Clemens here:
For the last several months, we have spoken regularly and respectfully with the demonstrators on our campus, consistently supporting their right to assemble and express their views. We have also clearly communicated the University’s long-standing policies on the use of shared public spaces. We have been clear that students and community members can assemble and make their voices heard, but University policies must be followed.
We respect and support the rights of peaceful protesters. While anyone – including students, faculty and staff – may gather and exercise their rights to free speech, state law and the Board of Governors policy prohibit disruption of University operations. This commitment to free speech and the policies for demonstrating are shared at the beginning of each academic semester.
During events in recent weeks, the student demonstrators abided by our policies. That changed Sunday evening when protesters – including outside activists – backtracked on their commitment to comply with these policies, including trespassing into classroom buildings overnight. This group has now made it clear they will no longer even consider our requests to abide by University policies and have ended our attempts at constructive dialogue.
We must consider the safety of all of our students, faculty and staff, as well as visitors to this campus. Our students are preparing for final exams and end-of-year activities, including graduation, and we will continue to promote an educational environment where they can do so safely and without disruption.
By 6 a.m. today the protesters assembled in Polk Place must remove all tents, tables, and other items and depart from the area. Failure to follow this order to disperse will result in consequences including possible arrest, suspension from campus and, ultimately, expulsion from the university, which may prevent students from graduating.
According to the UNC SJP Instagram page, more demonstrators who were not arrested began protesting at the steps of UNC’s administrative offices, South Building, by 7:30 a.m. A university update at 8:38 a.m. said remaining protesters “escalated their tactics, attempting to forcibly enter South Building by pushing officers and refusing to comply with requests from Facilities and UNC Police.” UNC has not clarified whether those protesters are among the 30 arrested Tuesday morning.
Additionally, campus law enforcement installed temporary metal barriers around the part of Polk Place where the encampment protest took place, preventing any community members from entering.
The UNC SJP encampment lasted more than 90 hours after beginning on Friday morning. The group had prepared on Monday for a police presence, telling demonstrators and those present on Polk Place they would not be intimidated by law enforcement’s response and were prepared to be arrested as part of their commitment to the cause of supporting Palestine.
Over the course of the demonstration, the participants led chants in support of those being affected by the war in Gaza and also calling out UNC administrators by name for their inaction to the group’s demands. The gathering was altogether peaceful, with meals and programming scheduled for those remaining on Polk Place 24/7 — but SJP acknowledged Sunday that the re-assembly of tents would break university policy. The policy was further broken on Monday when participants removed umbrellas from tables nearby the protest area and used them as a makeshift barrier near some of the tents.
The encampment protest was the latest demonstration by the student-led group, after protesters also interrupted a UNC Board of Trustees meeting in March with chants asking the university to divest from any support of Israel. It is also now the latest pro-Palestine demonstration on college campuses to see participants arrested, after arrests were made at schools like Columbia University, University of Texas-Austin and Emory University in recent days.
Tuesday marks the last day of classes for UNC in the academic year, with final exams set to begin on Thursday.
Featured photo via Jennifer Tran.
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