Dozens of protesters at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill were detained Tuesday morning after the school gave them a deadline to clear out of their anti-Israel protest encampment.
UNC police arrested six protesters among a group of 30 protesters who were detained and moved to a different location, according to multiple local news reports. The administration gave demonstrators a 6:00 a.m. deadline this morning to clear out after violating campus policies over the weekend.
“We were disappointed that we had to take action this morning regarding protesters, including many who are not members of the Carolina community, who violated state law and University policies that provide for peaceful demonstration,” UNC interim chancellor Lee Roberts and provost J. Christopher Clements said in an early afternoon campus update.
UNC leadership said activists stopped complying with campus policies on Sunday and ended “constructive dialogue” with the administration. The school is a public university bound by First Amendment protections.
“No one has the right to disrupt campus operations materially, nor to threaten or intimidate our students, nor to damage and destroy public property,” the statement continued.
“We must consider the physical safety of all of our students, faculty and staff. In addition, we are alarmed that we’re hearing more accounts of antisemitic speech, and we categorically denounce that and any other incidents of prejudice,” they added. UNC leadership also reassured students the 2024 commencement will go on as scheduled.
A spokesperson for UNC referred NR to two statements this morning including one from Roberts and Clements earlier this morning. The other statement said police approached the group at 6:00 a.m. and protesters responded by throwing debris and attempting to block police cars.
UNC police worked with reinforcements from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and police from other nearby campuses to clear out the protesters in 45 minutes. The anti-Israel student encampment was situated at Polk Place, a quad on the southern part of UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus named after former president James K. Polk.
“We will review all of the evidence and if we agree that a criminal law has been violated and was properly enforced, we will prosecute these cases as we do any other case,” Orange County district attorney Jeff Nieman said in a statement Tuesday morning.
Anti-Israel activist group Students for Justice in Palestine’s UNC chapter claimed on social media that students, faculty and “community members” were “violently” arrested Tuesday morning. SJP is a nationwide network of pro-Hamas campus activist organizations spearheading the anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the country.
One campus activist accused police of partially dislocating her shoulder upon arrest. The arrested demonstrators were released later Tuesday morning.